The Dragon, the Riddles and the Stone
by IdrewAcow
Summary: One evening, Edd wakes up...not entirely himself. Put up with a heavy secret that threatens his relationship with everyone he knows, Edd must find a true ally to solve the Riddles to complete his quest. Rated for further chapters. STILL ON HOLD.
1. Prologue

Ed, Edd'n Eddy

The Dragon, the Riddles and the Stone.

Preface

A never-ending fog covered the landscape. The thick, purple arms swirled between the blackened trees, destroyed long ago by a devastating battle.

Tall mountains watched over the dead fields, a monotone snow falling upon them.

Life was absent in this land, a deafening silence replaced it.

It is hard to believe that this once was a paradise. But now, it was dead and dark, death itself seemed to live here.

But a bright light pierced this darkness through the purple fog. Three dark silhouettes stood by the shining orb.

"He is breaking loose" the growl was low, deep and persistent. A pair of red liminecant eyes looked up from the orb as their owner spoke.

"We know that , Firebreath. We are here for that reason" two deep blue eyes stared back at into the red ones as the female voice spoke. "If we don't stop him, than the Echnia will be his, and all will be lost" she finished, gazing back into the orb. The red eyes squinted, anger rising within them.

"But how will we stop him?" he demanded. His war-like temper was breaking his patience. "Our last encounter left us deprived of our strength and powers! It was only a lucky chance we sealed him up!" he made his point by waving his paw above the pearl, bringing it to light. It was a deep red, knuckles decorated with spines, and long nails finished the thick fingers.

"Indeed. To even think of stopping him when he is like this is pure folly" her blue paw waved his away from the light. They locked eyes again, his burning with impatience and rage. Hers remained calm and collected.

"What are you teaching me, Silkwing? Look at his mind's power! We can feel it from here!" he demanded through his long teeth as they shimmered in the light. He was seething.

"You are not teaching me much, either. But we can't give up" he roared in aggravation at this.

"Are you kidding me? We still have time! We can flee, and leave the Earth to its own troubles!" he boomed. She looked at him again, her expression never changing.

Before she could respond, the third figure spoke for the first time.

"Silence, you two!" two golden eyes filled with wisdom looked at the two, then back into the pearl again. His voice then became bitter and sad.

"You know very well what would happen, Firebreath, if he got the Echnia! He will destroy our planet again, than come after us! Escape is useless!"

"But what can we do?" demanded the red beast once more. The golden king sighed.

"You are indeed right, Firebreath, there is little we can do"

"We cannot defend our world" she finished.

Silence took them for the second time.

"Do any of you two have a plan?" asked the warrior, calmed. No replay came for a long while.

"I may have something" spoke the female. Leaning forward, she touched the pearl, and their dark reflections shimmered, before becoming the image of a young man, no older then fourteen. He wore a red shirt, blue shorts, stockings, and a black beanie.

"Who is he?" asked Firebreath, slightly nostalgic. This illusion was a young human, who could have been much more, if only...

"He, could very well be the hero of the entire planet"

"Please elaborate, Silkwing" demanded the golden king.

"I say we try. The moment we will be defeated, we will put the last ounce of life we have into this boy. We will then be able to search for the Echnia without him knowing"

"Will he cooperate with us?"

"We don't have to tell him" the two males stared at her, seeing were she is getting at.

"He is our only hope, then" she nodded.

"Yes, maybe, but power can convert any human. If he came to know, then it will be a catastrophe!" pointed out Firebreath.

"Not this one. If I should trust my life to any human, then it would be him. He is just and understanding. His mind is strong, and he will never think foolishly. We have little to no risk of being corrupted with him" replied the blue beast.

The two males contemplated the plan, trying to see the weak spots. The only problem possible was if 'he' intervened.

When the golden king agreed, Firebreath sighed. The other two were smarter than him, but he was stronger. They all needed each other, like the sides of a triangle. He then agreed as well.

Behind them, a seal snapped, and a prisoner broke loose.

* * *

><p><strong>There, first chapter, replaced!<strong>

**I like it now, and I must thank my beta reader for helping me! I will replace all chapters, then continue with the story!**

**Well, on to the next!**


	2. How it all began

A cold storm howled through the little cul-de-sac in Peach Creek. Wind whistled as it flew between the houses and as it tried to get through doors and windows. The rain was pattering, drumming on the rooftops, and raging as it failed getting into the houses.

Everybody was staying inside playing on a electric console, watching TV, or doing homework. Although, the monotone pattering gave a bored feeling to those who reigned over the entire street.

But this feeling failed to get to Edd, otherwise known as Double D. He was doing homework as well but it was his favorite kind, math.

How could he not enjoy math! It was the language the whole world could read. The logic that reigned in it was beautiful and harmonious.

Double D saw a fun in math, which most people couldn't see.

The previous day, Edd had asked his math teacher for some extra math problems. The teacher gladly gave Edd the next week's homework, so he could devour it during the weekend.

Edd liked those riddle-like math questions simply because the answer was always clear. He just solved a riddle concerning the combination of a safe lock, the answer being 192'730'374, which he found a pure joy to discover.

"Oh, the joy of math, I'll never get over it!" Edd sighed happily.

He put his paper in the 'finished' pile, marked as such. The boy sat at his well-cleaned desk. The desk was just as perfect as the rest of the room. The whole place was clean, labeled, and well taken care of. Every clean object had its own precise location.

Needless to say, Edd was a good boy who liked making his parents proud with his good grades and manners.

Edd sighed as he finished another problem. A slight tingle pulled on his mind, pulling him away from his work slightly. Deciding to rest a little, Edd leaned back in his properly labeled chair.

How he had grown in the last two years. Although he still wore the same clothes and sported the same character**.** He was now smarter. He was the king of the class, one could say.

He still hung out with his always true and loyal friends. Eddy, a short and loud boy who hadn't changed a bit. His adoration for money and jawbreakers was always so strong. Though out of the trio, it was Ed who had changed the most. He now vacuumed his room once per five months and he sorted through his stuff just as often.

The other kids hadn't changed much either.

Edd looked over to his clock and saw it was 8:30.

Edd felt a nervous pulling on his mind and it was growing. It became some annoying hum in his head. The boy observed that he couldn't think straight.

He jumped when he heard a loud and clear howl. It was unlike any animal Edd had ever heard. It sounded so unearthly, it sent shivers down his spine.

'What was that?' he wondered.

He stood up and slowly walked over to his window. Leaning out of it, he saw nothing but a picturesque view of the forest and the setting sun. Sitting in his chair, he still felt uncomfortable. He tried shrugging it off, but to no avail.

A growl rang around him. It echoed through the room, through the boy's soul. His mind grew numb as the sound rang in his head.

He teetered on his chair, unbalanced for a moment. This feeling felt so odd. The sounds were still ringing in his head, his body was numb. He couldn't feel his fingers or his toes. He never felt like this before. It scared him.

"Who is there?" asked the boy, standing up again.

His numb fingers made the chair fall to the ground, but he didn't pay mind. His eyes searched the room frantically, searching for the slightest oddity. Another cold shiver followed when he found that the only thing wrong here was in his own body and mind.

He now cursed the fact of being an only son. His parents were absent, sent to a foreign country on some business trip. He was completely alone. A howl followed by a roar rang through him once more. He nearly fell to the ground, feeling unstable.

Edd was appalled. Was he hearing things? Was he cursed? Haunted? Or worse? He stepped back against the window. His heart was beating too fast and sweat beading at his brow. What was happening?

As he leaned against the wall, he felt a final shiver before his vision went black as all went silent.

* * *

><p>'Were am I?' Edd wondered as his eyes wavered. He saw nothing. An empty whiteness surrounded him. No ground or sky existed.<p>

Edd swore he was dreaming. But a piercing headache told him the opposite. He was standing in air. He felt like he was spinning and turning, without actually doing so. Yet, the absence of a fixed point to focus on made him unsure.

A whimper echoed against invisible walls that surrounded him. The boy didn't react, barely able to breathe.

Were in goodness' name was he?

'What is happening to me?' wondered the boy furiously.

His heart was beating terribly fast. He knew this wasn't a dream. This was far too terrifying to be one.

One final agonizing howl rang through the room. It was filled with pain, lost hope, and agony.

Death.

Edd tried to flee, but he couldn't move. A constricting feeling came over him, stopping all movement.

Edd heard somebody or something breathing. He was sure it was by his ear but nothing was there. The chilling breath was too cold for it to be human.

This whole situation was unearthly.

Edd panicked. What was happening, what, were, why?

The breathing turned into a crackled hum.

The melody was sad and tragic. Slow and peaceful, it dripped with agony and lost hopes. The roar from earlier sounded happy comparing to this terrible composition.

It lasted for ages. The boy was now sobbing from the harshest and most moving piece of music he has ever heard. Shakespeare was nothing comparing to this.

Edd listened to this music for far too long. He felt he was going mad. His saddest memories were ripped from the depths of his mind. The happy ones drowned in the swirl of tragedy.

His confusion from earlier was completely forgotten. It was so horrible that it seemed inhuman. It made Edd want to become deaf. It made him want to kill something or somebody. As long as this horrible yet so beautiful song ended.

It ended abruptly as a tired and cracked voice spoke, interrupting the melody. It sounded ancient, almost as if the owner hadn't spoken for centuries. It sounded like sand being crushed between two heavy large rocks.

The boy couldn't help but listen further as the voice pushed a poem out an old, dry throat.

"You, young man of the cul-de-sac,

You are in a precious place were nothing will lack.

Everything you desire is right under your nose,

although even the deadliest of foes.

Listen well, line seven to twelve,

Or for a long time for nothing you might delve.

Parents leave you almost everyday,

a longing feeling will leave you at dismay.

Right next to you stands a friend,

in you a great fright will end.

So now, keep listening, other clues are needed,

At the bottom of a bag, by an answer you will be greeted.

But know, a danger all-powerful is getting near,

all those you know will tremble in great fear.

The world will end, nothing less,

and it will all start with your painful deaths.

I know you are willing to stop this fiend,

although you will regret to have intervened.

This power so strong is getting stronger,

but if he finds the Echnia, all will be over.

Unknowingly, we give your our strength and wisdom,

and our trio will become a powerful foursome.

Find the treasure before it is too late,

hurry up: your precious time isn't that great.

You will find all you want in a place most dirty,

The deepest place, the one most filthy.

You now have a secret, one that must not be told.

If he knew, your world will fold"

By the end of the poem, the voice was dancing around the boy's ears. At first it started slow and soft, but now it was loud and fast. The cracking voice was almost laughing as it spoke these words, which made Edd feel pure absolute terror.

The terror drowned to become a stinging pain. He felt as if shards of hot glass were being pushed into his skull.

The torture lasted only a second before everything dissolved.

* * *

><p>A teeth-grinding pain made Edd arise from his slumber. It felt as if a knife had pierced through it. With a loud groan he tried to get up only for his body to refuse.<p>

He ached all over. The boy's bones were sore and his muscles felt as if they had been dipped in boiling water. Not to mention, Edd was in a very uncomfortable fetal position.

'Agh, what is this?' he felt resistance from every side, as if locked in a box.

'Who put me in a trunk?' he wondered.

He tried moving his elbow only to feel it meet a sharp corner. He yelped.

'What is this madness?' Before he question anything further he remembered fainting. The old, puzzling riddle came back as well, as did the ancient voice.

He squirmed around with little to no affect. It was difficult to even re-position his feet to stand him up properly. The boy looked around able to see better. His environment was clean. Thank God! Turning his head he saw a small exit.

"There!" slowly walking towards it, Edd stepped on a small wooden contraption that gave away instantly.

"What was that?" unable to move his head he gave up the search.

Edd couldn't help but think that his whole body was moving oddly. His shoulders felt strange, as did his upper and lower back.

Edd was very confused. He was having a perfectly normal evening until he heard a strange riddle, fainted, and now was stuck in some small place filled with little wooden things. Why?

The exit was covered with glass; really thin glass. Edd broke the small layer and stepped outside with some difficulty.

"Well, that is a relief" he sighed, rubbing his elbows.

He looked around and saw woods to his right and some small house to his left.

"I wonder were I am..." he took a step forward, feeling shaky and uncomfortable. It had nothing to do with him not knowing where he was. It was more so his whole physical state felt out of place.

Turning past the small house, he came to a small cul-de-sac.

"Well, it looks exactly like my cul-de-sac, but much smal-"

His mind froze, panic seeping through his limbs. The realization had hit him like a tidal wave, yet the logical part of his mind refused what was under his nose.

This wasn't possible!

Unable to wrap his mind around the sudden realization, he admitted he wasn't ready for this. Did the whole world just shrink? No, that was impossible...

Did he grow?

With shaking steps and ragged breath, he ran to the closest window. His heart came to a violent stop.

Staring back at him with hazel eyes was a tall scarlet dragon.

Edd looked away feeling his head turn on a neck that was way to long. His heart beat increased, he heard it beat in his ears, and felt it thrum in his large chest. Taking a stumbling step forward, he tripped. His knees and hips weren't moving correctly. They felt out of place, broken almost. Looking down at his feet, his gaze met two big scaly paws. He scrambled to those reptilian feet. Did he become a monster? A look into another window and he met the same reptilian eyes staring at him.

Edd's breath became ragged. This wasn't possible! All laws went against this! A two-legged mammal couldn't become a ten foot tall reptile! His mass was way to large, he should be crushed under his own weight!

This was going against so many things!

His throat tightened when he felt a tail trailing behind him as he ran. He couldn't stop himself from turning around and indeed he saw a long, elegant tail.

His back was covered with a huge pair of orange wings. His spine was followed with black stripes, and two long horns adorned his skull.

This wasn't possible.

Edd gave up. This wasn't possible, but it was happening. This was all true. This nightmare was a terrifying reality.

He collapsed in the grass. His mind was unable to compute all these happenings. Feeling himself go against so much unwritten laws felt wrong.

He gathered his thoughts, and after a few long minutes he went to study himself.

A yellow mask covered his forehead and a black lightning-shaped stripe ran over his cheek. His eyes were still his own brown ones and from his throat to the tip of his tail was covered with thick, yellow belly-scales.

He had five fingers that ended with a sharp and dangerous looking claw. He had three toes on both feet which, also had long claws attached to the ends.

He was a very handsome beast, to be honest.

Edd groaned when his spine protested. He put his palms on the ground, standing as would a dog or a cat. The boy turned beast realized that this felt much better on his bones rather than standing on only his hind legs.

Edd had become a reptile through and through.

He sighed. This couldn't get worse. What would he do if his friends found him in such a state, such a shape? They wouldn't recognize him and kill him. Literally.

Really, Edd was a monster, a beast from literature. A non-existent being. Who would want this at their side?

Then, who would want this against themself? Who would want to fight a dragon? Edd would be used as a war engine, to kill. He would be exploited for science.

The boy, or beast, felt his gut clench. This was such a terrible nightmare.

He had nothing to do, now. He had no idea how this was caused or why this was done. He had nowhere to go, nowhere to be.

Feeling tears coming to his eyes, Edd stretched his wings and took flight.

This feeling of freedom wasn't felt by Edd. He was drowning in sorrow. Were could he go? Who could he tell? What could he do?

A fresh breeze caught him off guard and Edd plummeted towards the ground. Quickly stabilizing himself, Edd thought he needed to pay more attention, despite his sadness.

Quickly calming down the shock from the sudden fall, the beast opened his heavy eyelids and gazed over the land with a watery gaze.

He nearly forgot to flap.

It was magnificent. The whole world opened himself in front of him, the horizon stretched out to eternity. The air moving past him was sometimes fresh, other times warm.

Birds screamed as he flew over their nest and animals fled at his approach, but he didn't care. His friends would flee at his presence and his humanity was over, but he didn't care.

All of a sudden, the world was his. This entire globe was under his might. He felt it as he rode the currents.

He was the king of all living things, the god of all the elements. He ran faster then any cheetah, flew quicker then any hawk, and swam faster then any shark.

Edd felt an immense relief come over him.

Even if he was chased, nobody would catch him. Even if he was hunted, nobody would be able to track him down. Even if he was caught, nobody would be able to hold him.

He had the world at his feet.

Time ticked by as Edd admired the Earth under him. The woods gave a fresh current with a scent of pine needles and grass. Plains smelled rich like soil and wheat.

He didn't even realize he had flown back over his cul-de-sac. The currents drove him there, but he didn't care.

When the sun appeared over the horizon, he landed in his garden and fell asleep, immensely content.

* * *

><p><strong>There, this chapter has finally been re-written. I'll get to work on chapter 3 asap.<strong>

**Note: later in the story there will be references to the riddle, though in the said versions the riddle is shorter and slightly different. So, don't be too confused about it. **


	3. An act of Bravery

Chapter 2

An act of Bravery

"Hey, sock head! Come on! We, uh, I got a new scam!" it was eddy, who, in short, was a small, though effective, loudspeaker. Three blond hairs made him look a foot taller, and he wore a yellow shirt, blue pants and red sneakers. He had a profound adoration for money, and a succulent candy which he craves: jawbreakers. Close behind him followed an all-loyal friend; Ed. The tall, chinless character was what he thought, or in other words, smelled like gravy, and had the average I.Q. of a buttered toast. Eddy, the greedy snooper he was, took advantage of his low brain capacity and supernatural strength, and Edd's, or Double D's, intelligence for scams, in order to buy jawbreakers. Their victims were the usual kids of the cul-de-sac. One other thing, Eddy likes to knock down doors using large, heavy objects. Now he was using a large red winter shovel to bang on our hero's door. But the hero in question was sleeping, much to the small boy's displeasure. Eddy grumbled.

"Is Double d awake, Eddy?" although Ed was clueless for everything (more than the past years), he deeply adored his friends.

"No, Lumpy, Sock head is sleeping our time away!" Eddy, on the other hand, always saw money and jawbreakers first.

"Come on" the smaller boy let himself in, and found Edd sleeping in a very messy room.

"Wow, Eddy. His room is messier than mine…" Ed said in awe. Although that wasn't true (Ed has a bathtub filled with gravy), Double D's room was chaotic. Everything was turned over; the rug was even torn in certain places.

"What happened, Eddy?" asked our tall idiot. Eddy smirked.

"If you want to find out, wake him up!" he pointed to the slumbering boy.

"Will do, Eddy!" he screamed and rushed out the door. Moments later, he came back with a brown, humid bag.

"This is my lunch, Eddy!" he happily said, pointing at the near-breaking, molding, moss-covered lunch.

"From what year?" the small boy smirked. Ed started drooling.

"Uuuuh…."

"Stop if it hurts, Ed" Eddy said, almost at tears.

"It hurts, Eddy!"

"Then throw that bag at ol'sock head's face!" he raged. Ed obliged.

The smothering lunch dripped over the boy's face, the smell bad enough to wake the dead. Eddy picked up something that looked like a toast and shoved it up Edd's mouth.

No reaction whatsoever.

"What's his problem?" yelled Eddy. Edd snored, than swallowed. Eddy blanked.

"Now that is just the freakiest thing I have ever seen…"

"What is, Eddy?" asked Ed.

"Wake him up!"

Seconds later the bed crashed through the wall, and landed catastrophically on the lawn.

Still no reaction came from the boy.

"Come on!" Eddy yelled. Ed followed. Fifteen minutes later, Ed came back carrying his tub of gravy.

"Hehe, if this doesn't wake him, then I don't know what will!" he said evilly.

Ed put the tub down (oh so very gently…) and picked the sleeping boy in. Atrocities lived and died in that tub, yet still he slumbered.

"I don't think you know, eddy!" said Ed. Eddy then tried everything to wake the boy up. He blasted cannons, shot fireworks, menaced him of the most terrible things, had Ed fart (p.u.!). Nothing happened. Eddy grumbled menacingly. He needed the scam. He promised himself that he wouldn't give up.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the smart and slumbering Ed still slumbered.

"What's his problem? This is the first time he just won't wake up!"

"Maybe he is in a coma, Eddy!" Eddy eyed his tall friend.

"For once, you may have said something smart, but that doesn't mean you're right!" he yelled. Eddy looked at his smarter friend (he really is down, isn't he? He's smallest and second smartest!)

"I give up. I wasn't good at keeping promises, anyway." He stormed off.

"What about the scam, Eddy?"

"We'll build it ourselves! We don't need sock head anyways…"

* * *

><p>At five pm Edd woke, having caught up his missing sleep.<p>

"Ah, that was a good nap…"

'Not to mention some night!' he thought to himself. THe boy still couldn't believe it, but what happened, happened He heard an explosion in the middle of the cul-de-sac.

"What am I doing outside? Did I sleep in my clothes?" he asked.

'Is that really that important?' he asked himself.

'No, not really. Now I must see that explosion…'

'Content in the air: water, oxygen, chlorophyll, rubber, wood, gasoline, Co2, other gases, and other burnt particles' he thought analogically. A little shaken, he arrived to the scene. Was that really him?

'Increase of burnt particles.' Hum...

"Eddy, what are you doing? You realize that that is sending toxic particles in the air!"

"Don't ask" said the yellow-shirted boy, rising from the remaining of his scam.

"You suck at building, eddy!" said Ed. He didn't look happy, his mono brow was low and flat, and a scowl covered his face. A rare sight this was, indeed. Edd preferred not to ask.

"Sorry, gentlemen, I was missing out on sleep." He said, helping his smaller friend up.

"No duh, Sherlock, I stuffed one of Ed's lunch bags in your mouth, and you didn't even flinch!"

"You did?" he asked shocked.

'Nothing toxic.'

'Ok…'

Edd was quite surprised at this new part of his brain. It analyzed everything, and pointed out the important informations.

Yet it troubled him. Although it was handy, was it really him who was thinking that? It was like some sort of helper, who wouldn't shut up.

"So, Eddy, what do you need help with?" he asked, wincing when his new feature started babbling away, noting their odors and particular sounds (like that fact that Ed created a perpetual sloshing noise, coming from his right sneaker).

"Is something wrong with you?" asked Eddy suspiciously.

"Double D didn't go Aaaah!" yelled the third friend. Edd gulped.

"What are you talking about?"

"You should be gagging after you knew that you ate Ed!" said Eddy, looking deep in his eyes, approaching an uncomfortable distance.

"Well, I thought that helping you is more important…" Eddy bought it, conceited he is.

"So, what did you try?"

"Well, I tried a roller coaster. Those are real popular" he said, scowling at his failure. Edd followed his gaze.

"Well, it seems that that box you used it labeled 'helium', so it would not be smart to put in anything else…that was quite dangerous…anymore, and the circumference of the after blow could go up to 1km radius, not to mention the toxics in the air…" Edd went ranting. Eddy eyed him again.

"Can you shut up and do something?" he snapped.

"Why yes…" Edd said.

The boys still spent the rest of the day together, scamming and failing. At the end of the day, the Eds came home bruised and scratched, but smiling. Tomorrow was school, and none of the Eds cared except when eddy went to Ed's place for a while before dinner.

"Hey, Ed" he asked as he sat on the ground. The chair was filled with cooked chicken and the bed had a hole in it, eaten by worms, insects and trash. His whole room was similar. The boy even kept a secret stash of sponges behind his wallpaper.

"Yeah, eddy?" asked the lovable oaf, sitting on the chair. Now that he was older, he learned one or two (literally) manners.

"Didja notice that Double d is kinda, I don't know, different?"

"You mean that the aliens from Vulkor have taken over his body?" asked Ed in an overly panicked tone, flailing his arms dramatically. His seat trembled menacingly.

"Ugh, forget it" it was worth the try.

Eddy started his way home, deep in thought. He knew he looked conceited, obsessed with money, but it was a shield. He didn't need anybody pestering him for any reason. Kevin treated him like a dork, but he shared the honor with his friends. He knew he had lived through everything with them, and he needed to take care of them. Ed was stupid, and he needed somebody to keep an eye on him. Sure, he could fall down a mountain and he would live, but one day he'll do something really stupid.

"The only person he actually listens to is his little sister" he though with a scowl as entered his house. Ed's sister was Sarah, a girl who plays with a boy called Jimmy. Although they look cute, Sarah really is nasty. Jimmy was what he looked like, though. They were eleven, now, but he still played with his stuffed animals. Sure, lots of people do, but he does in a most childish way. .. Sarah was his protector, almost. She raged at anyone who crossed her strict rules, and happily used Ed's love for her for her own doings. Now that she knew how it worked, it happened more often.

Eddy sighed, how everyone had grown. But Edd was still so proper, obeying his parent's sticky notes with an upmost care, his room perfectly labeled, his body always clean. It was almost abnormal. He was fragile, and could snap once there was too much strain. And such a strain was caused by the Kankers from the trailer park. They had moved there two years ago, and took a liking to them straight away. A mother would say that that was sweet, but it really wasn't.

Everybody disliked them, but the Eds had a really good reason; they ran after the Eds, capturing them and smothered them with sticky, wet kisses. Eddy swallowed, it was so disgusting. He was the eldest's favorite, Lee Kanker. She had a huge head full of red hair, it was scary. You couldn't see her eyes, and she almost always wore a white, red polka-dot t-shirt with jeans. She was the smartest of the three, and loved to devise evil plans to capture the Eds.

The second of the three was Marie Kanker. She had short blue hair, a short, sleeveless top, and cargo pants, and had a preference for the sock head. She really didn't suit him, Eddy thought. She was wildest of the three, the smuggest and evilest; she scared the poor Double D out of his skin.

The youngest was May Kanker, a blonde who made blonde jokes real. She really was good for the big Ed, if you thought about it. They shared the same intelligence and the same hygiene. She wore a white (although it quickly became dirty, so consider it gray-brown) shirt and red shorts. But despite their similarities, Ed was really scared of the girl; she was also wild, and quite careless. Eddy lay down on his bed.

Rolf, the farmer of the cul-de-sac, had grown, and was the strongest of the kids, closely seconded by the jock, Kevin.

Kevin always wore a red baseball cap, and took his fun from torturing the Eds. He was profoundly in love with his bike, much to Nazz's disliking.

Nazz was a happy cheerleader, and really liked Kevin. She always went with him in case of trouble (like a shortage of electricity) and enjoyed cheering him at the game.

Johnny the melon head has not changed at all during two years. He still had his buddy plank, nothing else. Eddy lay on his bed, deep in thought. He looked like he didn't care, but if his friends were in trouble; he would help them, until the very end.

And now, the brainy Ed seemed abnormal. Since this morning, he was too precise, to quick, fluid, but also more understandable. He seemed to have adjusted to his friend's vocabulary capabilities and described everything in a pleasant way. His eyes saw everything; he almost seemed like a robot.

Although these changes seemed positive, they were abrupt, too abrupt, thought Eddy. Something must have happened, and he was going to find out.

Edd, he was preparing for bed. His teeth were brushed, pajamas were on, but he didn't think that he was going to sleep tonight. No sleep at all. He was silently sitting on his bed, thinking.

'Oh, this is bad.'

''Bad', negative feeling given on a negative impression of a situation, person or object from a personal point of view'

'Ugh, shut up!'

'Do you want me to limit my information?' Edd jerked his head up.

'Can I do that?'

'Just name what you want to hear' it said happily. Edd was extremely puzzled. He could have a conversation with this inner self? That, was wierd.

'Hum, please give me answers to problems that I can't solve immediately, if I really want your help, and warn me in case of a dangerous situation.' He replied politely. Silence. Edd sighed in contentment that voice in his head shut up.

'So, yesterday night was pretty fun, but if that goes on, I will finish exhausted…if this repeats itself, than I will have to take midday naps.' He reasoned. He checked his clock, it read 8:25.

"Ah, good, guess it was all a bad dream..." he sighed. With a content smile, he tucked up under his warm covers and started to sleep.

Five minutes later, the sun set. The tip of the sun disappeared, and the red in the sky filled the room through the window. The color grew, spread, than collected around the boy's body. Before he could react, he was surrounded.

"Ouch…my head…" Edd realized that he was trapped in his room again.

"Darn it! So, it seems that this is going to persist…May as well take another stroll." Fidgeted a bit and finally landed outside under his window.

"Ugh, that was harder than yesterday." Scrambling up, he took to the skies.

The air was cool and mildly damp. He still heard, smelt and saw the slightest things, it was quite interesting. As he flew over the forest, the presence of flora and fauna forced itself on his senses.

The boy looked up to the sky.

"The stars are magnificent today…" he murmured. They shone like little lights on a pitch-black tarp, it was simply breath taking.

"On must find pleasure in the little things around him." Edd mumbled wisely.

'But one must also remember the bigger things, too' the voice said.

That voice was a bonus part of his transformation, but why was he given this power? Dozens of people would want it. But of course, it would have been for selfish reasons. He remembered a mention about him finding an Echnia of some sort.

"Why? Why, why, why?" he mumbled. Well, he certainly wasn't going to tell anyone. The voice he heard before his transformation said that if anyone knew that something terrible would happen.

A shot was heard. Edd panicked, and gained altitude. Was somebody shooting him? He looked down, and froze, nearly forgetting to flap. He was in the trailer park, Parc'n Flush!

"Oh, no, no, no…not here" he thought, panicking.

'I have to leave, I have to leave this place right now!'

"Leave us alone!" he heard. Somebody was in trouble!

"Not without a little something, right?" he heard. Somebody was in bad trouble!

Edd felt his mind tumble. This was the dwelling of the Kankers! He shuddered, the home of Marie… He pulled himself together, though. Somebody down there needed help! Curiosity took him over, and he dove to the scene.

Edd landed between two trailers, trash lingering everywhere, including the air. He heard rodents here and there, and felt a great number of insects under his feet. He walked down the rows of homes, on all fours to make himself smaller.

"Get out of our house, ya freaks!" he straightened. That was May! She sounded shocked, and scared. Scared? The Kankers were never scared! He quickened his pace and looked straight into his nemesis' trailer.

Five people stood in the doorway, and a sixth was on the ground. Edd smelt a little burnt stuff in the air. He saw the three Kankers by the opposite wall, wearing their pajamas and looking scared. Lee wore a simple white gown, May a one-piece pajama and Marie a green and red T and blue shorts. The younger and elder sisters were in front of Marie, who was strangely sitting on the ground.

"This is a house, more like a dump, heh" said the guy who was closest to them, a gun pointing in their direction. The others had bags in their hands, and then Edd realized on how empty, not to mention messy, the trailer looked. Anything that was left was broken, and spread over the ground. So they were being robbed! He saw the scene in his head.

The guys go on a random pillage in the park.

This one unconscious man sneaks into the Kanker's trailer, and wakes the three sisters up.

They give him a Kanker treatment, but he manages to wound Marie so that she can't stand.

The other thugs are warned, and they corner the girls in their own home, giving the present situation.

Edd felt an unearthly feeling rise.

'Everyone has rights over their belongings! Everyone in this land is free! No-one is superior or inferior! They have a right to live freely, no matter what they have done!' he thought. A rage overtook him, and he pounced.

'Darn these thugs!' was the only thought in Lee's head. Their mother was out of town late again, and they get stuck with these freaks. Now she has to protect her two younger siblings! In any other case Marie would help, but now…

"Get out of our house! We have pit bulls!" she tried.

"We do?" asked May. Lee swore under her breath. Great help, May, really.

"What pit bulls?" laughed the thugs. "All we see is a few helpless chiwawa's !" they snickered. Lee grumbled. It was worth the try…

"Come here, Darkfire!" called Marie, taking up the plan. Darkfire, what kind of name was that? The robbers looked at each other, then started laughing really hard.

Seriously, Marie? What kind of dog name is that?

It seemed like the trailer exploded when a large mass crashed into it, right at that moment. It wasted no time and tackled the men, tearing their clothes and clawing their skin, taking advantage of the thick dust and debris in the air. The men screamed and wailed, but the sisters just looked at this much unexpected surprise. They observed and were able to make out one valid point. It was no pit bull, hell, it wasn't even a dog.

A scarlet dragon stood amid the men's unconscious bodies, cloth hanging on its talons and teeth. It looked around, and froze at the sister's sight.

'What am I doing in here?' Edd thought, panicked out of his wits. 'Did I just do that?' he saw Marie looking him. He just knew he was alone, in his sworn enemy's trailer, with no back-up or plan. Without wasting another second, he flew off, leaving the girls to their problems.

The sisters watched the beast leave, with an outstanding strength present in every one of its moves, but elegance like no other followed every stride. They saw in amazement as it left on the horizon, just a shadow in the night.

"Is that our dog?" asked May. Lee and Marie ignored her, instead, the eldest turned to her sibling.

"Marie, are you ok?" she asked, worried.

"I guess…"she pushed down her sleeve, revealing a long, shallow gash.

The poor Edd was out of his wits.

What has he done? Has he just saved the Kankers from robbers? But it was fishy, normally they would have attacked their opponents and win, so why weren't the sisters doing anything? Also, why did he attack? What was that unexpected rage that overcame him? THat strength in his limbs he felt back there, he foresaw every movement, dodged every swipe. Whatever happened was far more effectife that any dose of adrenaline.

The more he thought about it, the more his head hurt. It was no use, what was done is done.

He landed in his room just as the sun appeared, turning him human.

"Strange, apparently the sun is the influence of my transformations." He mumbled. Without a second thought, he went to bed, waiting for his alarm to announce him a new day at school.

* * *

><p><strong>Gaaaah! Two chapters in one day! <strong>

**This still isn't my best, though. I hate writing action scenes and dialogues...**

**Well, I hope it was supportable, at least.**

**Please leave any tips or comments!**


	4. Consequences

Chapter 3

Consequences

The poor, tired Edd trudged to Ed's house, were they would meet before going to the bus stop.

"I mean, why do we even have school! It hogs up our youth!" he heard Eddy yell from a long distance.

The smart boy sighed. The small boy knew it was to make their futures easier.

"And homework! We work all day, they give us more work to do! Waste of time and paper!"

"Why, Eddy, I didn't know you were fond of trees." Edd commented.

"Who cares! Homework is a waste of everything, useless!" Eddy was now waving his arms around, making him look like a freak.

"It is to make sure that you understand the subject, Eddy."

"So what, I don't care about school!" the three friends headed for the bus stop, Eddy still ranting on about (useless) work.

"When do we need to know how to draw squares! The only thing they should be teaching us is how to gain money! That makes work useful!" he grinned widely.

"But Eddy-" Ed started.

"What!"

"I don't know Eddy!" the taller boy whined. Eddy looked at Edd, seeing that he was looking down.

"Hey, Sock head!"

"What is it, Eddy?"

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, Eddy" he replied docilely as the bus pulled up. The trio entered and looked for their spots, Edd stumbling slightly over the steps.

During the entire ride, few words were shared.

Edd went to his locker, slightly more awake and present. He smelled the halls and heard the noises. Without looking, he knew every person coming and going. He noted that Kevin smelt of sweat, Eddy heavy cologne and Ed was plain disgusting.

It was fascinating. These senses came up slowly, but now he knew everything. With a smile, he decoded his lock adn enjoyed the roughness of the metal under his super-sensitive fingers.

This awareness was wonderful. He heard the clicking of the lock, the footsteps of every individual student, the flying of a paper airplane.

Other smells flooded him as well. He even smelt the water from the cooler at the other end of the hall.

Edd smiled. He hardly felt tired anymore, his day was looking up.

With a start he smelled the Kankers enter the building. That spoiled the mood.

Trembling violently, he peeked around the door of his locker.

They looked very tired, and slightly shaken. Of course, he thought, they have been robbed and they have seen an impossible being in one night. Who would be perfectly sane after that?

He watched as they walked in the most elegant fashion towards their own lockers, not saying much. THeir footsteps were heavy, and they didn't shower or brush that morning. But, with that, he smelt soemthing oddly familliar.

"Come on, Sock head. The teach' has got something to say." Eddy yelled. Edd looked at him, fear in his eyes, and told him to shush, pointing in the female trio's direction. Eddy blanked, and pulled Edd away from his locker.

"Really, how do you know?" whispered the boy. His senses were now on the three sisters, so he couldn't quite forget them.

"The bullitin board, it said that we better be on time or else we will miss important stuff."

"See you guys later!" said Ed, heading to his class. Edd sighed, how could he have missed the bulletin board?

Shaking off his shivers from the close encounter, Edd followed his shorter friend in class.

THe two entered their class and sat down in their seats, Edd sitting between Eddy and Kevin. They were in the back of the class, Edd sitting in front of Nazz and Lee. Edd trembled as the three entered the room behind them, and heard Eddy grunt at the sister's sight (the three of them were in most of their classes, Ed was so lucky to not share most of them), remembering on how they were now forced to go the school. Nobody knew what convinced them, but now they came every day. The class stood as the teacher entered the class.

"Thank you, you may take your seats" he said, with a deep, booming voice. He was a tall, impressive man, and had the restect from most kids in the school.

"I have some important news for you all. In three weeks there will be a choice excursion for you students. There will be five choices, you may have your pick. Nazz, please hand these out." He gave her a bunch of papers, which the girl promptly gave to each student. Edd took his with a polite 'thank you' and read it. The excursion to the cliffs looked quite interesting, he had wished to go there for quite some time. He saw ( and heard) Eddy jump up at the sight of the candy factory as a possibility.

"Next, in five weeks there will be a nature camp. No electricity, mind you. Tents and logs, that's what. Kevin, hand these out." Kevin took the papers and gave them to the kids. Edd winced, a camp? How could he hide his transformations if he is sharing a tent? He would have to look at that. The bell rang half an hour later, and the Eds met up in the halls a few minutes before class.

"Guys, pick the factory tour! They say free candy!" Eddy yelled, jumping on spot. Edd winced as the noise he made almost turned him deaf.

"No, Eddy. I am picking the cliff excursion. I have wanted to see them for quite some time." Edd replied quite frankly, rubbing his ears. But Ed agreed to go with Eddy , the greed for candy was corrupting them. Edd sighed. There were more important things than sweets.

That shocked himself. When was the last time he refused those sweet treats? As far as his memories go, he always voted for them.

Then again, there were more important stuff. The bell rang, signaling the beginning of math class. Edd and Ed headed to their class, and Eddy went to his.

After they sat, the teacher gave them math exercises.

"Hum, if on a map, 2.3 centimeters is in reality five hundred meters, then what is the real distance between two houses, if on the map the distance is ten inches, knowing that one inch is 2.5 centimeters?" Edd read. This was a good problem. Edd raised his pencil, wanting to write the first calculation, but the answer just sprang in his head.

THe numbers clicked, fit together, and made a whole. He saw the process in his mind's eye, seeing as the multiplications paired up two numbers, making another answer.

Impressed with this other ability, he continued on.

One after another, the numbers put themselves into place, putting themselves in order and giving a perfectly logical, precise answer. He continued on and on, scribbling away, not breaking a sweat.

But he was beginning to worry. What was this going to bring to his existence? Although that question seemed exagerated, it was a good question.

A new voice in his mind knew probably everything that happened around him, and answered any question. Hell, he could even talk with it.

His senses were unearthly, beyond any humane capability.

And worse, it seemed that every night he turned into a creature that people from ages long ago considered demons, animals to be shun by the world.

What was this putting him?

Was he still even human?

During the next forty minutes, he thought this through. Would his friends find out one day? What would his parents think? Will he have to leave?

The bell relieved him from his personal torment and he headed for gym. The two Eds met Ed in the hallway, all going to the same class, gym.

"Gym is fun, like a chicken in gravy!" said Ed. Edd didn't hear him, he was still tormentning himself. /Guess the bell didn't help at all.

"Oh, boy..." said the smaller Edd, wiping his forehead.

"Come on, sock head. Gym isn't the worst thing around." Said Eddy in the smuggest way around.

"Your right. Humiliation is" replied the boy. Eddy grinned. Poor sock head, he always was bad in gym, ever since the 'dodge ball accident'. He and Ed weren't there to witness it, but it terrified the poor boy out of his skin just at the mention of the sport. He sighed, thinking on what could have possibly happened.

But Edd didn't even know he was going for gym. His feet just carried them there, bringing him to his worst school subject.

It was only when Edd entered the smelly changing rooms when he knew were he was. Swallowing down the newer torment, he quickly proceded to his little corner at the right of the door.

Edd rummaged a little in his bag, searching for his well-folded and pressed clothes. When he found them, he positioned them on the rack in from of him and took off his shirt.

All fear disappeared when he saw his form in the mirror. A absolute horror replaced it.

His torso was covered in well-carved muscles. His shoulders were wider, and his middle was thinner. It didn't change his silhouette much, but still…

It was impressive. He felt like he was in that spider-man movie, when the hero first saw himself in the reflection. Only one difference: these muscles had nothing to do with human anatomy. They resembled, but there were large, and noticeable differences. And also, his were much, much more toned then any boy of his age.

Edd gasped, realizing he wasn't alone in the room, and quickly put on his gym shirt, realizing quickly that it had grown oh so slightly tighter.

Has this alter-ego changed him this much? Was he now stronger too? How much farther is this going to go on?

The boy finished changing quickly and exited to the gym, following Eddy and followed by Ed.

"Welcome to gym, class." spoke the tall teacher. Edd winced at the thought that he was now probably stronger then even this hulk of a man.

"Why does he always greet us as if this was the first day in school?" asked Eddy, unnerved. Edd hushed him, only slightly curious of what they were going to do.

Apparently they were going to do an obstacle course, of the worst kind. First zigzag between poles (easy for everyone), then run as fast as possible to the ladder who was perpendicular to the wall, go up and down it, race to the jump frog and jump over it, snake under the benches, three pull-ups, five push-ups, lift the weight once above your head, climb up a steep ramp to Tarzan to the other side with a rope, land, climb down, and pull the bell to signal you are finished.

"Oh, man! This obstacle course is hell!" yelled Eddy, eyeing the course.

"Well, Eddy, it is good for our physique…" reasoned Edd. To be completely truthful, he wanted to know the limit of his new body even if it scared him.

"And why are you so happy! It contains your worst subjects!"

"Well, I have an experiment that I wanted to test." He lied, gulping. Lying never was his forte.

"What sort of experiment?"

"You will see"

The kids lined up by alphabetical order, this time of their first names. That meant that Ed was first.

"Time to go, guys!" he headed off at the whistle. Edd watched as he zigzagged the poles clumsilly, ran up and down the ladder, jumped over the leapfrog, and lousily snake under the benches.

The teacher whistled it as Edd's turn came.

It was amazing.

His senses and body worked together in an awstriking harmony. Knowing the exact difference in distance, his grip on the floor, and his balance, his being worked between the poles with ease.

The muscles pulled his body in the most exact angles, the quickest and easiest way. Running was now so much easier, turning was a breeze.

Having finished with the first obstacle, he jumped up the first few feet of the ladder. His feet found the steps perfectly, not slipping the slightest. Edd grabbed ahead and threw himself off the edge.

The freedom of movement was wonderful. THe boy could now twist in the most impossible ways, move at the highest speeds, dodged every thing thrown at him.

It was only when he pulled the bell when he realised what a monster he was.

Not only was the whole class staring, but what kind of human could do this?

"V-v-very good, Eddward, it seems that you have improved over the week-end, you made a record time!" stuttered the teacher. Apparently, he has seen nothing like this.

Who would have?

"It was nothing, sir. This was an experiment that needed testing. By tomorrow, I will be normal again, and I shall destroy this document." He faked, not believing himself.

"Why would you destroy an experiment that could do such this for you?" asked the teacher a little puzzled.

"During the testing I have encountered too many valid negative points." He lied before leaving. If anybody knew that this was his permanent state, then he will be asked questions.

But the boy was in torment. He was too perfect. He was too strong, too smart, too impossible.

"Sock head, how didja do that?" yelled the short boy as he arrived at the end of the course.

"Double D is an alien, eddy!" Ed yelled, hiding slightly behind the shorter boy.

"Don't worry! I told you, it was an experiment!" comforted Edd. The others didn't ask any more questions, and they proceeded to recess.

* * *

><p>Lee and Marie were in the boiler room, their little sanctuary during their free hours. Marie was filing her nails, and Lee was bathing her feet. No words were exchanged, just a slightly comfortable silence sometimes interrupted by a squeek from the boiler.<p>

May just then rushed in, destroying the peace, panting and out of her wits.

"You guys will never guess what happened at gym!" she squealed. Her sisters sighed.

"What is it?" Marie asked, not at all interested.

"Edd won the record of the obstacle course!" After a now uncomfortable silence, the two sisters laughed.

"Yeah, right!" said Lee between laughs, wet feet dripping everywere.

"It's true! Marie would have seen too if she was able to be there!" May protested. Marie got a hold of herself at that comment.

"Hey, it's not my fault that I got shot!" she said, pointing to the bandage on her arm. It hurt a lot, and stopped her amr at certain angles, not that she would admit it to anyone.

"But it's true! Edd went faster then everyone!" she was almost desperate, now.

"Were there math questions in the obstacle course?" asked Lee smugly.

"No! He was the fastest in everything physical!" she screamed, waving her arms around frantically. Her sisters froze.

"Do you believe me now?" May hoped.

"No. You just said a smart word" gasped Marie, pointing at her, the miracle of the year. Lee giggled.

"Well, we'll just have to see. Why don't we pay our men a little visit after school?" she asked, knowing very well their answer. The Kankers laughed evilly until the bell rang.

Edd and his friends were coming out of their science class, Eddy with a detention. They headed for the door as Edd lectured the small Ed about the importance of scholar education. Ed was ranting happilly about gravy.

"Eddy, you know very well that getting detention won't help you advance in life! So why do you persist?" screamed the smarter boy.

"Because!" Eddy said. He had already tried his other excuses.

"That is not a reason! When will you understand?" he pleaded.

'Maybe you should talk to him in his language' said the voice in his head.

'Keep going…' Edd thought smugly. Although he never did this, this was a desperate mesure.

"Eddy?"

"What?"

"Do you know were money comes from?"

"From scamming people, that's were!"

"But there are jobs were you get much more money, just by sitting around all day" he said slyly. Eddy looked at him.

"Keep talking"

"Well, not that you'll be interested. Such jobs require high grades, good scholar history, not to mention good character"

"I like Nachos when they are greasy!" said Ed, feeling a bit left out.

"And you know that the first semester's exams are coming up. They are essential for your future. But, if you succeed, then a quarter of your life could be spent in a glorious richness!"

"Fine, I'll study! But don't think it has anything to do with anything you said!" yelled Eddy. The trio walked on in silence.

Edd froze. A smell, a very familiar smell, what was that? He wondered.

"Hiya boys!" They froze. The trademark we-are-going-to-kiss-you-now signal, belonging only to, the Kankers! Edd ran off, forgetting his friends on instinct.

Why were they here? The day was already as bad as it was, and now these scary girls were just plain making it worse!

How he feared Marie Kanker! She was terribly strong, forceful, and would get anything she would want by a great number of ways. Oh, how he feared her.

But he still smelled it. It wasn't the Kankers in particular, but it was getting nearer.

"Hey, oven Mitt! Wait for me!" Edd panicked. He felt a sort of pressure in his chest, but he ignored it. He ran faster, not caring if anyone noticed. Hey knew that Marie saw this but he didn't care, he just wanted her to leave him alone.

She chased him through the deserted halls, this part of school was always empty; he kept a good lead during a record time. According to the boy's calculations, his friends were already in a thorough and scary kissing session.

Even though he was now by far superior to her in many ways besides right, he still didn't think he could do much about her.

Marie herself was quite surprised at the amount of time she needed to catch up with him, it was incredible. Finally assuming that her younger sister might be right, she smiled and accelerated, remembering that this hall ended with a stairway where she could catch up.

Edd grimaced when he spotted the stair that descended in his direction to the inferior floor. He knew that the girl chasing him will jump down it so she would land in front of him. Tensing his jaw, he decided differently, and accelerated even more.

Edd grabbed the railing and sprinted down the stairs, unknowingly touching the floor with his hands. The pressure in his chest increased, and as he finally came to the floor -1, he turned to his right into the darker hall, and there he met an unexpected surprise.

The pressure in his chest exploded, forcing him to a stop. He felt his shoulders thicken, his skull pull, his spine grow.

'No! This cannot happen! Not now!' he forgot the Kanker following him, and tried to stop the transformation.

His heart was beating at an unsafe speed. The stress from the day flooded over him, from the moring to just that very moment.

Why was this happening to him? Couldn't it have been anyone else? THis secret was too great for him, the burden was too heavy.

'There is a reason'

He calmed down. Even time seemed to slow, as he realised one important thing.

If he was trusted with such a weight, then it was for a reason. Nobody in a right mind would do this for a prank. Accepting the trusth, his spine snapped.

"Ah, just the moment I started to tire! You are a good boy, Double D!" Darn, he forgot about her! Some stress comming back, he decided to deal with it and shut up, it could be worse. As long as nobody found out about this secret he was trusted with, everything was alright.

Edd entered his house completely exhausted. He couldn't find his friends after Marie released him, so he headed straight home. He sat on his bed, in deep thought.

He nearly turning into a beast in plain day. He knew it didn't have anything to do with the darkness of the hall he had entered at that moment, but it was the pressure.

During his entire 'encounter' with Marie, that pressure was always present. Seemed like it was caused under extreme mental pressure or stress.

Maybe it was a defense mechanism. Of course, when an animal is in trouble, it goes vicious. If a human is in trouble, the individual will then be boosten by adrenaline.

Settled with that idea, he turned to the next question.

There was some peculiar smell in the school today, especially around Marie, it seemed. It was faint, but undeniably present. It was somewhat metallic, thick and slightly bitter.

He had smelled it before, since he was a toddler. Then it hit him.

It was blood.

* * *

><p>The next day it was relatively warm. The last night he had flown around, nothing special, but it still tired him. Edd promised himself a long nap after school. He went to science class, dragging his bag. The first hour Tuesday, he was separated from his friends in science. He entered his class and sat at his regular spot. Ed and Eddy were in French now, and he smiled as he thought of all the horrible french-english jokes Eddy was going to make.<p>

His teacher entered the class. THe man had the fattest belly and the thinnest legs, it was wonder he was even able to keep balance.

"Good morning, today we will be doing a little test." a groan spread through the class. Edd sighed. He just knew that this was going to be as easy as everything.

He was able to think about the matter the previous night, and found that as long as this was a secret, then he should get used to it after a while.

"Now, now, it will be easy. You will each have partners of my choice to avoid chattering, and you will mix the chemicals listed and make your own separate, individual notes." The class groaned again, but Edd always loved these tests. But now he had to know whom he was paired up with.

"Nazz, you will go with Johnny." She whined. Edd sighed. Looks like he wasn'tgoing to be with Nazz. Johnny, though, was fun to work with, despite him wrecking everything.

"Rolf, Kevin." Nobody complained. Edd sighed in relief.

"Eddward, Marie" complete silence, even the fly who was buzzing around shut up.

Edd was in less then one half a second terrified out of his thoughts. Marie? She was the only person whom he couldn't talk to! Sure, he could scare the living daylights out of the world's strongest man in a strength competition, sure he could outwit Einstein (dear lord), sure he could pull the girl apart, but he couldn't. He shouldn't, he mustn't.

She was too vicious, too mean, too clever. If he made her unhappy, he would have all three sisters on his back. He glanced in her direction, and saw her smirking at him. As the teacher continued to name pairs, Edd kept thinking.

To be honest, he knew down that he had nothing to be afraid of. There was a teacher in the class, and he knew he would handle it. Not to mention, if she really loved him as much as she said, she would never truelly hurt him. "Hi cutie-pie!" she smiled.

He tried his best remember his manners and responded. He had to be polite, that was the way he was brought up. But then he felt a pressure in his chest.

The same as the day before. He felt her inch closer, closer…

"Uh, Marie!" he almost yelled, getting up.

"Yes?" she slurred, dragging the 'e'. Edd thought quickly.

"I will be happy to give you the answers if you do me a favor in return..." he tried. She thought a moment, grinning.

"That depends" she smirked, backing up a little bit.

"Please leave me alone for the rest of the hour." He suggested. Any bet too big would end with a rejection, and being ignored vocally for the rest of the day. She grinned.

"Deal" Edd let go of his breath, incredibly relieved. First, she was going to leave him alone; second, his pressure was gone. He got up and headed for the table, gathering materials. He was careful not to pick up more than one thing at a time, he knew he could carry pretty much anything that wasn't bolted down. The boy got the paper with the assignments, gave one to Marie (curse my forever foregoing politeness) and sat down, ready for the test.

Just by putting his eyes on the first question, he knew the answer. The molecules drew themselves in his head, mixing each other up and giving the just reactions and reasons. He wrote, knowing the source of his knowledge.

For a full half hour, he kept writing. He heard the others strain with the answers, heard Marie's gum pop, and smelt his classmate's fear. He didn't know that fear actually had a smell, but if he smelled it, then it did. He finished his paper with fifteen minutes to spare.

"Here" he said handing the girl his paper, making sure the teacher wouldn't see. She grinned and started writing like a savage.

"May I recommend a more restricted vocabulary, or a different order in your sentences…?"

"Yeah, yeah…" she waved him off, already seeing the A in her eyes. Edd thought it was her loss, and sat down to read a book. If the teacher spotted the fact that the two copies were identical, he would blame her. Of course the smart Ed would get everything right, like he has for the past eight years, since he was six. He flipped to the first page, already savoring the next ten minutes of reading.

"Eddward! Are you done? Where is your paper?"Asked the teacher. Snap. He saw how Marie quickly handed him his paper from under the table, not wanting to bet caught. Edd felt the famous, or infamous, pressure rise.

"I am done, sir. I just wanted to read to pass time." The teacher didn't look convinced.

"But you haven't touched your material, neither of you." He reasoned. Edd then made a dangerous move.

"What if wasn't needed, sir?" he snapped almost insultingly. Edd cursed mentally, quite despite himself. The adult came to his table, and took the two copies. The two kids looked up to him. Edd saw him grin, and Marie flinched ever so slightly. The boy felt his pressure dangerously high.

"Marie, what is combustion?"The teacher asked smugly, leaning foward and plunging them deep in his foul breath. Geez, if you have an onion bagel in the morning, better brush. Marie stuttered, opening and closing her mouth like a fish.

Edd cursed mentally again. His pressure was getting too dangerous!

'Marie, for the love of all things holy, combustion is when an object or body takes flame!' he yelled mentally. Most people knew that! He already felt his shoulders broaden…

This was baaaaaad... He looked over to the girl, noticing that she was already looking at him, when she finally answered.

"Combustion is when an object takes flame" she said, almost robotically. The teacher almost looked disappointed. He put the papers down, and headed back to his desk. Edd sighed in relief.

That was waaaaaay too close. He was THIS close to turning into his alter ego in broad daylight. He realized that he felt normal again, and felt happiness infiltrate his being. Ah, the joy of relief. Wiping his forehead, he didn't notice the girl still staring at him. Her mind was a total mess.

How the answer came to her was a complete miracle, yet it wasn't. THe boy next to her was way to releived, was pretty much crunching his own teeth just a minute ago.

But the most important was, did she just hear him speak in her mind? Was he a mind-reader or something? Well, with all the books he read, maybe, but still...

Marie looked at her paper, those fake answers strewn across the lines. Flinching slightly when her arm gave a warning, she re-read them.

To her own surprise, they made sense.

Who knew? School made sense.

Maybe she should participate more.

Yes, she should, she thought.

Her arm flew up in flames just then. Stupid bullet. She was sure she was going to bleed to death right there and then if that dragon hadn't shown up.

She re-concentrated on her paper, seeing how easy it all really was. He remembered the director's words.

'If you do better in school, too, then we may be able to consider helping more.' They needed all the help they could get, to be quite frank. Was it only science and chemicals who were really that easy? She retraced each question, re-filling complicated words with her own, and doing so for a full eight minutes.

Edd saw her retraced her questions with a sudden curiosity. Why was she doing that? It seemed unearthly to him, Marie working. Almost as magical as seeing Ed brush his teeth once per two months.

He watched her follow the lines she was reading with a surprisingly smooth finger, polished almost vulgarly with red paint. A pity, he almost thought. He saw her forget her gum, and saw the girl chewing on her pencil's eraser as she thought. Was she really trying to work? Thinking it was best for her, he shrugged it off, retreating to his book.

* * *

><p><strong>Yaaay!<br>Finally done! This is one of the longer chapters, and their are plenty more to come!  
>I want to thank those who reviewed, especially Goku, for those positive comments and support.<br>If you want to see a few pictures of the Dragon Edd, visit my profile for a link to my youtube account.  
>I will probably update once every two days, I will do my best.<br>See you all next chapter!**


	5. Good deeds and Nasty Rewards

Chapter 4

Good deeds and Nasty Rewards

The days flew by. Eddy was actually working now, dragging Ed with him. It seems that Edd's words had reached him. Edd was learning too, but not about school.

His five senses have been increased in sensibility in an incredible manner, and in such a way that he could change the strength. If it was really loud around him, he could literally shut his hears down, making him almost deaf. His muscle structure has also increased by the passing day, but it barely noticeable.

Besides his body and senses, him mind was also increasing in knowledge with practise. As his body grew stronger, his mind has too. He could now, with only a little straining, touch other's minds with his own.

It was a terrifying practise. He could see any thought that passed by his victim's mind. Not only thoughts, but even things that even the person wasn't aware of. And it scared Edd quite a bit. Not only was this ability practical, but it was also the uglyest way to get any information he wanted.

He knew he could, if he wanted, take control of the person, and dig through his thoughts to find anything he wanted. And by doing that, he broke into the person's last refuge.

The mind is the last place a smart being could hide itself in. Breaking in there meant that he could ruin the person's life, if he wanted.

It trully was scary.

But Edd never did. He only just barely graved them, just to know what their immediate thoughts were. He felt he needed the practise.

Another matter that made the trio very happy was the fact that the Kankers were hardly attacking any more. But, on the other hand, they were now in school every day, never missing a class. The only thing on Edd's mind was that every now and then, he smelled blood, making him wonder if any of the three were wounded, but that hardly passed his own mind.

But that poem, or riddle, whatever you call it, was still annoying him. He was supposed to find something, an Echnia of some sort. Bottom of a bag that sure helped a lot! It was infuriating, even in the day, so he spent more and more time in the library.

But because of all this, the wasn't able to see his friends very much any more. It saddened him quite a bit, but it wasn't the worst.

It was now two weeks after the science class incident, a Tuesday night in fact, when Edd was thining about all this. He was now fully adapted to this new schedule. Taking a two hour nap every day after school, doing his homework at night before his stroll, he was never really tired any more.

The air was nice and fresh after the rain the day before, and it helped his reflect on all these thoughts.

Edd spent his nights flying around, thining and testing new things.

Edd heaved a great dragon sigh as he continued munching down the poem's information until a piercing shriek broke his thoughts.

"What in name of baked pudding..." he mumbled, casting his eyes downward. He was so distracted by his own thoughts that he didn't notice that he had drifted right above the city near the cul-de-sac. The air was heavy and slightly toxic, and many lights made his scarlet red scales easy to see.

But what he was seeing was slightly more important.

A lady was running, and after her was a man.

Edd shook his head gravely, he knew the dangers of a city at night. And people hear about these things and thinks that it only happens to others.

Hearing her scream again, Edd lost his nerve. No person was allowed to be superior to any other individual. We had rights, man and woman, adult and child.

Feeling a rush of power through his limbs, Edd plunged downward towards the scene.

The man laughed at the woman as he cornered her in an alleyway. Taking another step foward, the whole world turned upside down.

A massive body fell in between the two humans, the dust from the alleyway and the stray newspapers covered it up slightly, but what the man saw covered his heart in cold, freezing fear.

Two red eyes stared straight into his, teeth were reflected in the streetlamps neardy. Claws stratched as the beast advanced toward the man,parting the dust with it's massive shoulders and elegant wings. The woman whimpered as a long, spined tail flew over the ground. A long, menacing growl erupted from a long, deep throught as the beast took another step. Without losing one second, the man, getting out of his stupor, ran away as fast as his feet could carry him.

Edd, ceasing the growling, felt the rush leave his body. Not looking anywere in particular, he took off, and flew away.

The next day, Edd came up to his locker, feeling as if he had amde a grand accomplishment. He has saved somebody the last night, and he felt quite good about it. Making people happy made people in general feel good.

Eddy and Ed were in the library, and Edd needed a few books, and was going to join them afterward.

"Yo, Kevin!" Edd just barely heard this discreet whisper, clearly directed towards the jock, Kevin, and Edd only slightly sadly knew who spoke to him.

Nazz, the cheerleader, was head over heels for Kevin since the new school semester started. No one knows why, but it was so, and so were crushed the ed's dreams of going out with her.

The smart ed heard Kevin stop and turn on his heels toward the girl.

"What is it?"

Edd knew that this wasn't any of buisness, but he couldn't help it. Soemthing in him knew that this would be worth the listen.

"Well, you see..." Edd knew that during this pause she was looking around. Darn, his ears could even hear her hair whip around her face.

"My mum works at the traffic security center...and you know that the streets are full of those cameras..."

"And they caught something on tape, yeah?" Kevin finished. Edd already knew.

"Look..." Edd heard her uncrumple a sheet of paper, surely with his photo on it.

"Darn...is it real?"

Edd didn't know what to feel. Was he shocked? Happy? Confused? Angry?

Shocked that he missed those cameras, and he was sure he had the nicest face on in the photo.

Happy, well, people know about it, but not about him, so his secret was half taken off his shoulders.

Confused, why should he be confused? No real valid reason.

Angry, well...because, maybe?

Anyway, Edd didn't know. after just staying there, missing the rest of the conversation between the two, he decided that as long as they didn't know were the dragon came from, it was ok.

Packing up his books, he headed for the library.

* * *

><p>After recess, the boy looked at the picture on his way to class. It sure was him, alright, though he never knew he looked that threatening, and was he really that big? On the picture you could see the man run away from him, giving him a slightly bad impression. But he never thought he looked like that…the only time he saw his reflection was in a window at night, so this was actually quite a reflection for him.<p>

One thing for dsure, he was really tall in that form, the size of two horses to the shoulder. And it seemed that he looked quite capable of smashing stuff. A bit self-impressed, he headed on to class.

* * *

><p>As Edd sat down in the lunchroom, he heard that the entire school was able to hear of him, or well, the dragon. Eddy and Ed sat next to him, and Edd realized that Eddy's bag looked heavier than usual. He smiled to himself. His speech was short, but it seemed to have impacted him more then he thought.<p>

"Hey, Sock head."

"Yes, Eddy?" the boy asked, unpacking his sandwich. He made himself tuna today.

"You able to make a really heavy-duty cage?" he whispered. Apparently, he didn't want anybody else know.

"Yes…"

"Good. Can you make one for me due tomorrow?" Edd felt an image of the red dragon pass through the small boy's mind.

"May I ask what purpose it is for?" He asked.

"What do you think? 'Oh, it's a dragon!' 'How I wish to see it!' 'I hate the thing; I would pay to get rid of it!' Come on! We could capture it, train it, and make it do stuff that we want! And, if we find a little girl dragon, then they would make more little dragons! We sell'm and restart!" Eddy grinned at his own genius.

"No, then" Eddy's face fell three feet.

"What are you, sick?" he demanded, almost screaming.

"No, respectfully, I saw that the beast was helping somebody. I also think we should let it live a happy life. We should let it be." he reasoned. It would go bad if he accepted. Imagine, he is in the cage and Eddy is looking for him!

"But imagine what we could make the others do!" yelled Eddy. "Everybody would cower in front of us! It would make the best circus ever seen! People would pay us to see more or just for us to leave! Those things strike fear, gain and respect!"

"Maybe photos should compensate. I mean, it doesn't harm the being…" Edd tried.

"Yeah…photos" the smaller boy then turned to Ed, obviously planning an ambush for the creature.

Edd sighed under his breath, if that was possible. Those photots should make him happy enough, though Edd couldn't help the feeling that they were being listened to.

That evening, Edd decided to give Eddy a chance to take the pictures. Or else, he would bother him the next day. So, it was for the best.

Edd flew around the cul-de-sac for quite a while, and after seeing a clear flash from behind the bushes, he flew towards the city, only slightly hearing Eddy yelling at Ed for putting the flash on.

Edd had nothing better to do, and helping random people in the city was actually doing something helpful.

* * *

><p>Edd was spent. He had saved so many troubled poeple that last night, not forgetting the animals, including a cat in a tree and a drunk driver. How would this life be with more problems?<p>

"A hell…" he answered himself. Tomorrow he will be tired again, that is a fact, but luckily today was a Friday, 3 in the morning. The next week was the famous excursion.

Flying on, he listened for any sighns of distress.

How funny, he actually felt like a superhero. The dragon, appearing out of nowhere, always on time! Riiiight...

"Help! Aaah, Leave me alone!" he heard. Edd sighed. The world is never going to be at rest. He zoomed to the scene with his vision, and saw a young blonde woman being pursued by two hooded men.

'How unfair, two against one is just plain unfair!' without wasting any time, he dived into the action, or, well the action that there was, anyway.

Edd landed between the two parties, growling furiously at the two men. He swished his tail, haunched his shoulders and growled again. The beast froze when he noticed a smirk on their faces, then a strike to the head sent him into the pitch black void.

* * *

><p>"That hurt…were am I?" Edd mumbled to himself, barely understandable, for sure. He somehow knew it was almost sunrise, and he surely knew he was tied up quite painfully by his limbs.<p>

'What happened?' he wondered, getting up. He then got a huge slap with a base ball across the face.

"Wake up, sleeping beauty! We were waiting!" said a deep, gravel-like voice. He immediatly recognized it as Lee's.

'What am I doing here?' he thought, still slightly shaken. Darn that blow to the head hurt...He then remembered the last thing he did before blacking out. The two men, the blonde...

So the three were the Kankers! They overheard him talking with Eddy at lunch, thought like Eddy, and decided to capture him! He eyed the ropes binding him, his body active but his mind not. He barely stood properly.

'This is heavy duty rope…' he noted that he was in the forest, and there were the three Kankers 'au complet' in front of him.

"He's gorgeous…" said May. Edd looked at her. There were jackets on the ground behind her, and the stakes holding him back were out of reach and the ropes too tight for him to gnaw them without pain.

"He's tall, isn't he?" said another voice.

'Marie!' Edd thought, now suddenyl wide awake. He was trapped, alone, with the Kankers, Marie Kanker, before sunrise.

The shock woke him up completly. How could he escape? Some dark feeling inside his gut, resembling true fear, made his limbs tremble.

"Well, now he is awake." She added. Edd proceeded to the violent tugging on his ropes. Darn, that hurt so much.

"Well, he is smart." Noted Lee, patting the bat on her hand.

"What do we do now?" asked the youngest.

"What do you think? We show him who's boss!" responded the elder sister. Edd froze his action of trying to reach the binds to gnaw them off.

Was he going to be trained like an animal?

'No! Every being has rights!' roared an inside voice

'No time for fooling around! You must get out of here, you child!' Before Edd could understand what that meant, how it was speaking to him, it overcame him, enraged him, made him stronger, and made him wilder.

His mind was darkened, drowned in deep red thoughts. His body ached with a newer strength, unlike anything he has ever felt before. Before he knew it, extra spines poked from his sides and his cheeks. His teeth and his horns grew; his wings remodeled themselves for escape, becomming narrower, longer and stronger.

'Let me go!' he thought enraged. This being's mental strength was just as incredible. He now had the impression to share his body with somebody else, something else. He tugged harder, his grown muscles stretching to its limits.

He didn't know annymore who he was. This being was taking over that control of his entire body and mind. Spines conitued to appear and grow, and his color became darker, his eyebrow thicker.

"Wow!" Marie yelled as she saw the transformation.

"Well, that's not gonna stop us!" said Lee, her voice having left a little confidence, approaching the beast, waving the bat.

'I am not a mere animal! I deserve at least an ounce of respect!' he snapped at the approaching girl, crunching the bat between his teeth.

"Look! It's trying to scare us!" Lee mocked again, backing up nervously.

"Well, that's not going to work"

"Not the slightest." finished May. Edd continued to feel his transformation. Now, he was _growing,_ strength seemed more important than cunning. He continued to tug, very, very mad.

'All I wanted to do was help! Is this what I get?' the rage grew and grew, making him a monster. Edd started to become scared of himself. What was happening? He tugged harder, almost losing control of his own body.

'What am I doing? I am a monster!' he felt the intruder grunt.

"Look, the poor thing is trying to free itself!" Lee mocked. Marie and May looked at her. That was something to say to a transforming beast! Edd heard, and glared at her, and growled louder then he has ever before.

"Uh, Lee, I think it understands us" Marie said.

'No duh, Sherlock!' thought Edd. Now he felt his visitor's rage, the injustice he was put up against. Giving up against this being, he let himself become what he feared the most.

He growled again, this time completing it with a ferocious roar, enough to terrify the dead. It blew the girls a few feet backwards, and made the trees sway. He still tugged the whole long, but those binds were very, very strong, and out of his jaws reach.

Marie observed the beast. She may not look like one, but she was a good observer. The girl looked at it, and couldn't help but think that it's eyes seemed empty. It looked as if the life was sucked out of it, replaced by a devil from hell.

Not only that, but there was some sort of annoying ache in the back of her mind. If also hurt slightly.

Marie saw it continue to grow a little, now it has added half of his own volume. She saw the binds rip under his thick wrists.

This was getting out of control! If he got free, then she and her sisters were done for! She whispered to her sisters, and they seperated.

Edd felt nothing but pure rage. Power ran through his blood, and the air he inhaled was filled with energy. He could do absolutly anything. Feeling the binds snap around his now two-foot thick wrists, he ran for it, but felt a tug on his throat, choking him.

"What…" he gasped. He looked around with his furious eyes and saw the three sisters hold on him with lassos. They sure had aim for such a short timing.

Edd was just about to turn toward them and snap their head off, when another person stepped into the clearing.

"Hey! Where do you have Double d…" the voice trailed off. Edd looked in front of him and saw his great friend, Eddy, followed by Ed. They both stood still at his sight, big and mean-looking.

"How did you…"

"Go comb your hair, midget!" strained Marie, pulling hard on the lasso, trying to match the beast's strength.

Edd saw his true friends, how terrified they looked. All they wanted was to find him, they worried about him. They cared for him! He felt a lump in his throat, thinking on how they risked themselves seeing the Kankers, just for him, not knowing he was just here. He quit the pulling, looking at them with big eyes.

'I think you can handle it from here.' said the voice.

'What?' Edd asked. Edd felt 'it' leave, and he felt his spines disappear into thin air, his growth stop, making him shrink, his muscles relax and lose power. The whole while, he just stared at his friends.

"Wow…" spoke the Kankers. Edd felt powerless. That strength, that power, it was LIMITLESS. He felt a sort of sad feeling as it disappeared, a sort of empty cavity waiting to be filled.

As Eddy approached him, his eyes refocused. He felt the lassos again, heard the breathing of the girls tugging on his leash. One important duty came to his mind.

He had to leave. He had to leave this place right now.

Marie saw how he completely froze at the Eds' sight. Did he know them? Impossible, he just took pictures of the thing! She saw the beast's eyes, they were now full again, but sad, desperate, confused. Eddy took a step towards the monster. Was the beast mad? The girl saw the dragon's eyes refocus, then, the unexpected happened.

Edd needed to leave. Eddy took another step, another, and then another. Edd needed to leave, he needed to leave. He didn't know exactly why, but he just needed to leave. He did probably the most dangerous thing he has ever anticipated by himself.

A lunged forward, biting for his friend's hand.

He couldn't let the Kankers believe that he had any connection with his friends. Freezing at their sight was foolish, it was a complete, stupid error. He needed to make them believe that he thought that the short Ed was another menace, and wanted him to leave him alone. He needed to go to his limits.

Edd's jaws snapped air as Eddy took his hand away at the last moment. The movement surprised the sisters, but the two elders still held on. The dragon swept his tail, hitting the red head. He needed to leave, right now. So, he flew off.

Marie was incredulous as the beast snapped at the Ed. How could she have thought that they knew each other? She yelled in surprise as it jerked forward, sending May flying in the bushes. He blue-haired girl ducked as the creature's tail hit her other sister in the head.

That cursed beast was going to pay!

She glared at it, and was surprised once more.

It had its eyes shut. A tear was coming down it's cheek. The dragon didn't want to this. And when it opened its eyes, it looked desperate, and she read them.

It needed to leave.

As it spread its wings, she let the rope fall.

* * *

><p>Edd flew away all the way to his room, feeling empty.<p>

He had just attacked his friends, who just wanted to help him! He had attacked the Kankers, too, but that bothered him less. But that power…

That power was immense. It was so great, it made him feel like he could destroy anything in his path; let him get whatever he wanted. He remembered that presence; it was that who caused it. It came with its rage.

Forgetting all this and weeping slightly, he landed in his room as the sun rose. Wiping his tears, he started packing for the morning.

* * *

><p><strong>Aaaaah! I actually did in one day! <strong>

**Gee, I think I put a little too much lines for a time change in this chapter...**

**Well, I'm still getting used to this, and school is ending so the tests are all over the place.**

**Please bear with me, update soon (1-3 days...I hope)**


	6. Speaking to One, Thinking he's Two

Chapter 5

Speaking to one, thinking he's two

Edd trudged to his locker, exhausted and a little depressed. That same morning he has attacked his friends and escaped his worst enemies.

The poor boy has been avoiding his friends on his way to school, not willing to see then for the fear of bursting in tears at their sight.

Edd opened his locker and sighed. He had cleaned it up a little the last day, maiking it smell like soap. He put his unnecessary books in there and took out the necessary ones. Math was his first period on Fridays, but he still had a half an hour before class. Cursing his early habits, he head to the library, deciding that reading on the present subject, functions, wouldn't hurt.

He couldn't have been any more wrong.

The smart ed sat down in one of those poufy beanbags, flipping through a book which he has already read. Although it was thin, it clearly, delicatly and simply treated the subject of functions; it was one of Edd's favorite books. He smiled at the reading that was waiting for him.

But the smile dropped into a deadpan state of shock as he recognized a very familiar, deadly smell.

Marie Kanker has just entered the library.

Edd ducked under the cover of his book, thinking it was maybe a bit stupid because the title of the book would immediately give him away. He knew exactly which one of the three sisters it was because she didn't smell like an obsessive amount of gel like the eldest, and was still cleaner then the youngest. She walked lighter then the two others, and she was always chewing gum. He knew it was her.

The boy listened as she headed to the more educational part of the room. She wavered in front of the math part, surprising the ed quite much. He knew the library inside out, and knew she was looking at functions. Was she actually studying for it? She was in the same class as him this morning, but why would she study now? Wasn't it a bit late? The test was today, wasn't it?

He froze again as he heard her head straight towards him.

"Hi, Double D!" she said lightly. He started to shiver, a cold sweat starting to run from his forehead. He peeked from the top of his already drenched book.

"Y-e-e-es?" he quivered, shaking like leaf. She giggled at his fright.

"Don't worry, I'm not in the mood now" she assured. Was she? She looked quite happy and cheerful.

"Can you help me?" well, that was direct. She leaned down to him, and he tried his best not to lean backwards, for fear of disrespect.

"T-t-t-That d-d-depends…" he quivered again, looking straight into her eyes. He didn't dare inspect her mind, just yesterday he happened to read Kevin's mind, and the images shocked him so much that he thought that he should leave other people's minds and thoughts alone.

She was not really out of the ordinairy, just her asking for help was odd. Normally she never took help, even if it really was important.

"Well, can you help me with math? I want to succeed this coming test…" she trailed off. Edd was shocked.

Math? Math, of all subjects? Was she joking? Did she just leaver her sentence unfinished? She wanted to succeed?

Was the world coming to an end?

"Please?" The world was ending, that struck the boy like a bat hit a ball. Since when does she ask with a please? Edd pondered a moment, still shaking like a leaf.

Why would she want to ace a test? Did she want to prove something, or was he a victim of a bet?

She wanted to work, apparently. Why would she ask him, though?

Well, he was smart, duh.

But he himself had a few reasons to fear her. she just lasso'ed him that morning, and terrified him daily.

Why would she expect him to help her?

Because one of the rarest things in the world was forgiveness. It was so precious, and so often hoped and so rarely recieved. She knew she had the rights to ask, the rights to learn. But why ask him, beside for the fact that he was smart?

Because she trusted him?

The boy shook that thought out of his head immediatly. She didn't trust anybody, at least not yet. He knew that her rough life wouldn't let her.

Her rough life wouldn't let her study properly, either.

She lived in a messy trailer, hardly enough electricity for heat and warm food, and a crappy television quality. She slept in the same bed as her sisters, and

Making up his mind with this last point, he accepted with a short nod of the head.

The girl lead him towards a table farther back in the room, somewere nobody would disturb their work. Edd was now just hoping this wasn't some form of a trap.

He sat accross from her, carefully taking out a few pieces of paper and some pencils. Both of them sharing the same math classes the whole week, the whole year, he knew she wanted to know about functions.

Taking out the slightly less wet book that he was reading before, Edd put it between them.

"You see, a function is a transformation a number endures." He said. After a short analyse of his words, she looked back at him as if he grew two heads. Edd sighed.

"Well…" he pointed to an example in the book. "See, here it is written X-f(x) =2x+ (x÷2). It is actually very simple" Edd felt absorbed by the joy of math, and almost forgot whom he was talking too. "X is a number, but every x is the same number. So x is for example 4. 2x means you have to multiply 4 by two. Whatever is between parentheses is always done first, so you first do 4 divided by 2. Then you calculate the rest, add the results, and there you have it"

She thought a moment, before she pointed to the same spot on the book.

"So, if my number is three, I do three divided by two, and add it with three times two. Result: seven and a half. Right?" she asked. He nodded.

"Yes. You can look at this book if you want, it is quite simple…" he said. She stretched her arm and took the book. Edd froze.

Blood.

He smelt blood.

The boy looked her over, and stopped at her left arm. It was bandaged, and he realized that she didn't use it very much lately.

"Marie?" he asked.

"Yeah?" she asked, looking up from the book, looking at him with a strange gaze. Apparently she was still quite 'playful'.

"What happened to your arm? I don't mean to put my nose in anybody's business…" he trailed off as her face fell a bit.

"You wouldn't believe me…" Edd almost laughed.

"Trust me, I think I'll believe you" he said. He was a bit stunned as he realized he was having a reasonable, non-dangerous conversation with this girl, hardly quivering anymore at that. She sighed.

"I was shot" she stated, simply and directly. He jumped.

"How in Newton's name did that happen?" he yelled, slightly mad. She sighed again.

"A few weeks ago me and my sis' were getting robbed. Of course we knocked the dude out cold, but then, a friend of that guy came in and, well…" she imitated the shooting of a revolver, with her right arm of course. Edd was frozen. Was that why when he came they were all surprised and she was on the floor? It all put itself in place. He was slightly surprised that he has just nearly missed a shot. He had saved her, apparently.

He politely mentioned that she didn't need to continue, and continued tutoring her before the bell.

Edd announced that he had to go to class, the room being on the other side of the building. Wrapping up his stuff, he saw Eddy further up, heading to English with Ed. just as he reached the door to catch up with them, he stopped.

"Wait!" he heard. He turned around, and saw the blue-haired girl running towards him.

"Thank you" she said gently, looking slightly up to him. Without wasting one second, she quickly kissed his cheek.

* * *

><p>The weekend went by peacefully, except the Friday morning, at the end of math class, when Marie received an C+ for her test. The whole school was profoundly confused, but everybody eventually forgot. Edd went on with his heroic deeds in the city, but apparently he was classified. He never got any newspaper entry whatsoever, but he wasn't sad. The people who claimed to have seen him must have been considered crackpots. But hey, at least they are alive, right?<p>

That weekend, the Eds did a ton of scams, and they were all very happy doing so. It has been awhile since their last scam, but Eddy and Ed have worked so much these last days, Edd decided that they could let work go just that weekend. Ed was now capable of remembering the two and three times table, which was already very impressive.

It was Saturday evening and Edd was packing for the excursion, looking forward to it. Apparently he has not chosen the most popular one; only seven kids out of the whole grade have chosen this field trip, and also because the other options were full. He had no idea who has picked it, but he will find out eventually.

"Binoculars, check, clipboard, check, pen and paper, check."Edd was finishing his list, and putting everything in his bag. He relooked over the schedule. They would go towards the train station; which was a forty-five minute drive with the bus. They would head toward the cliffs from there, riding alongside them till they get to the station. Then, they would talk about the cliffs and leave. Quite simple it was, actually. He then prepared for the night to come and went to sleep.

The next morning Edd was well rested. He made sure that he didn't overwork himself the last night, and slept a good deal, actually. But with the fast approaching winter, the nights were going to take longer… He waited at the bus stop, alone. His friend have already left for the factory, their bus has come a full two hours earlier. The two companions were now at the factory for a full day of candy bathing.

Edd looked up as he heard the bus come. He realized it smelled quite bad, and didn't look quite better. It barely seemed able to move. The vehicule was rusted, looked greasy for some reason and it was missing a front bumper. Apparently the 'thing' was a loner.

Edd got on the bus, politly greeting the driver. He started down the aislem seeing that most seats were occupated by kids he has barely seen, maybe once or twice in the halls. But he stopped dead when he saw the neighbor of the last free seat.

"Marie?" she looked at him, then smiled.

"Hi!" she said smugly, uncrossing her arms to rest them behind her head. Edd felt the sweat on his brow as he sat on the brim of his seat, as far away from the girl as possible. Sure, the last day they talked, but it seemed it hasn't happened. He closed his eyes as the bus departed.

* * *

><p>Forty-five minutes later, Edd scrambled out of the bus, gasping for air, whipping his face. Darn that girl! He grabbed to get to his feet, and went to the teacher.<p>

The moment the bus departed, the torture has started. It seemed she had no other way of saying 'thank you'then smothering the savior with sticky, wet kisses. He nearly regretting helping her.

"Welcome to Cliff Station!" the tour guide greeted warmly. At least somebody was being nice.

"Are you all ready? The train is leaving in a few minutes!" she headed off, the kids following. Marie was like glue to Edd, she wouldn't let him go. The group got on the train; the interior was quite fashionable. It was wooden, with red , nice looking seats.

But Edd wasn't able to comment on the fancy chairs. He almost ran for a place, but was sadly cornered by the blue-haired girl in the, well, corner. He winced as the train left the station.

Despite the commotion, the boy was able to realize that there were only fifteen people in the single-wagon train. It surprised him only mildly, this place was for mere tourism, and the following station was completely empty, deprived of any habitable houses.

"Class, look!" said the teacher, grabbing everybody's attention, including the blue-haired devil. Edd was relieved at her small will to learn a little, mosatly because she just wasn't kissing him at that moment.

"See, soon we will turn and go alongside these cliffs, which are approximately three hundred and fifty feet deep and one hundred feet wide. They are making a bridge to cross it, but it is far from finished. We will be able to see it as we turn away from it." She said. Edd was quite disappointed as she finished her speech. He now dreaded the return of Marie….

A chill ran down his spine.

It was cold, icing. His teeth clattered, and his scalp prickled. One thought came to mind: something was terribly wrong

The others didn't seem to realise, but a doomed atmosphere settled in the wagon. His intinct said he needed to know exactly what was going on.

He got up, he had to check up on the driver.

"No, you are staying right here!" yelled Marie, grabbing his shirt and pulling him down. By all the deities! This was the worst timing to think about such unnecessairy things!

"Marie, I need to go….now" he whimpered. She only smiled smugly at him, saying that she refused to let him go. Another chill, he had an impression that time was running out…

Time was running out, a third, colder chill told him that.

Edd had no choice. He launched his mind at hers, and planned to change it.

This was the first time he ever went so deep in another person's thoughts. The other times he only just grazed them, but this was incredible.

The whole world seen by his mind's eye was dark, colors flying freely through this eternal space. Thos colors came as thoughts, memorie, concepts, ideas, right in front of him.

He knew exactly what this meant: he now held Marie's entire being right in his palm. If he wanted, he could kill her, command her to do anything, communicate with her, or get anything out of her that he wanted.

The power he now had over the girl was terrifying.

Memories were dumped onto him, thoughts and others. Reading secrets who were supposed to stay secret, ideas and lies were revealed him. Conversations, dreams, it was all white on black in front of him, and it was very hard to ignore them. As all the information she thought of pushed themselves up to him, he could barely ignore anything. He was now reading her like a open book.

Trying to shut his mind's eye, trying not to see her most personal secrets, he made her let go of his shirt and let him go.

Retreating to his own body with relief, he fled away from her, and towards the front of the wagon.

He didn't know that he forgot something.

He had commanded the girl to let him go, and let him leave, but didn't give her a reason, he didn't add his own reason to her own thoughts.

So she was very appalled when her hand released his shirt, and her own body refused to stop him. Marie's body was sure if it's orders, but her thoughts was not.

Profoundly confused, she let the thing go, and assumed that he needed to go to the bathroom.

Wait, there wasn't any toilet in this train.

Edd pushed the door open. In mid-push, a fourth chill assaulted him. Cold, unwelcom, tragic, sad, dreaded. Now he knew what it was.

The presence of death itself.

Swinging the door fully, he froze.

No driver.

No controls.

just a window vieux of the unfinished bridge ahead, this train's destination.

Marie was now thinking a little about her unexpected movement. Why, just why did she do it?

A tremendous noise tore her from her thoughts, and silenced the entire wagon. Then, the door burst open, and a scarlet beast with black stripes coming from the spine grabbed the first two passenger to it's left and jumped out the window.

"Darkfire..."

Edd put the two people down as gently as he could with the little time he had. So little time, just not enough... Racing towards the wagon by foot, he jumped through a second window and grabbed the next three passengers.

Putting them back down, he raced back into the vehicule.

Why? Why was this happening? This was supposed to be a pleasure trip, and fifteen people were now risking death!

Him. It was his fault.

of course, with every situation, one always has an enemmy. And Edd's ennemy just struck.

As Edd deposited the next three, he thought, he wouldn't have it. Nobody was to die today if it was his fault!

This thought made the blood in his brain pump harder. He felt every ragged breath go through his throat, and felt every speck of dirt glue to his sweaty limbs.

Four more innocent people were put in the safe grass. Edd couldn't take this stress. Only mere seconds were left! Looking beyond the wagon, the cliff was dangerously close, just one more trip was possible!

He didn't care anymore. If his limbs ached, if his throat burned, if he felt tired, he didn't care, because if anyone was to die today, it would he his fault.

He would never get over a thing like that.

The last three were put down in the grass. The hero sat down, not taking the pain in his legs. Panting heavily, he barely heard the three people scream as the wagon went overboard.

"Oh my! Poor girl!" screamed an elderly woman as she glared at the beast. Edd's head jerked up. Looking back, Everybody was present. His heart stopped.

Besides one.

Marie choked as she felt the train fly past the balance point. Now freefalling, the girl felt a sensation of weightlessness take hold of her.

Was she going to end like this? Smashed at the bottom of a cliff? Great, just great, now why?

Because the dragon let her die.

Because he didn't think she was worth saving. She mistreated him, as she mistreated everybody she knew, met, and saw.

With a pang in her heart, the girl remembered her sisters. Oh, if only she knew she was going to die today! She would have apologized for her brute character, and to everybody as well.

Then again, they wouldn't care. She caused too much trouble to be missed. She wasn't worth living, the waste of air and space.

She was too mean, too brash. Unladylike, unwanted, rude, a waste. she was a waste.

She has been mean right and left. She wasn't going to be missed. People will greet her death, be blessed with her departure. Especially Edd…

The boy would embrace her death, jump for joy and have Christmas early. He would smile at the knowing that she has been squished by a train at the foot of a cliff.

She was never able to tell him her true feelings. She loved him so dearly, she loved her sisters, and she loved her life, in her own crooked way. But now, she hasn't even been able to say goodbye…

But then, she could make up for her own acts for ridding everybody of her existence. She would make the world feel better, safer, for all those she knew.

Her mother would have one less mouth to feed, he sisters one less person in the bed.

Sighing, accepting her fate, she closed her eyes and greeted death with open arms.

If only she knew she was going to die.

Edd was traumatized. An innocent was now tumbling down a cliff, and within seconds, she would smash to death. Andit was his fault.

His fault. His. Fault. His.

Not wasting a second, he divied towards the depths.

Air was pushinf itself pas his thick, smooth form. Too slow, too slow! Beating his wings, propulsing himelf towards the ground faster, he couldn't take it anymore.

His heart ached, it was beating too much blood too fast. His head ached, so much sad endings and freezing, guilty thoughts.

His entire body ached, he couldn't take it.

A dark cloud surrounded his eyes.

* * *

><p>He woke up from a half-concious state as his claw grazed the metal. He was still falling towards the ground, but he caught up with the vehicule.<p>

Waking up, realizing he fell unconcious, he broke the final window, gripped around the thin, trembling form of the girl, and spread his wings.

An enormous explosion erupted at the foor of the cliff. The noise was tremendous, metal was flying left and right. Edd, he sheilded his protegé from the dangerous debris and flew slightly higher, viewing the catastrophe from above.

If his ennemy was able to do this, then he didn't know how he was going to survive.

A small whimper and cry woke him from his thoughts. Moving his arm, he saw Marie, fists clenched and tears streaming down her cheeks.

"You should have let me fall…." She whimpered. He looked at her, and she was crying in his arms. He felt slightly uncomfortable.

"I should have died!" she yelled. Edd was now puzzled. What was she speaking of? The girl looked up at him.

"You! Let me fall right now!" The beast blinked, looking at her tears. She was profoundly hurt, and without a doubt shaken. She then tried prying herself out of his arms, but he caught her.

"Why should I do that?" he asked her, curious. She looked at him again, an expression of 'you can talk?' on her face. She quickly recomposed herself.

"I do not deserve to live!" she yelled again. The boy was now thinking hard. Why would she say that all of a sudden? Thinking that this was his fault, he decided to comfort her.

"Shhh… do not speak nonsense."

"What nonsense? I make people miserable! Make people cry, shiver in fear! I am a monster! Look at you! I hurt you, tied you up, tortured you, and yet you save me! Why? Why!"

The boy was at loss. Whatever happened during the fall, it changed her completly. A depressed Marie was just not normal. He felt he wouldn't be able to live seeing her like this.

"I could not have let you die" he said. "Everybody deserves to live".

"My death would have solved so many problems…." She whimpered, growing quiet.

"Come…" he whispered, and pushed her up to his shoulder, positioning her at the base of his neck. He flew off, leaving the wreckage behind.

The duo came over the wide green fields, wind blowing slightly. Marie looked around, seeing the wind pushing the grass, making it look like a huge green ocean. They flew a few moments in silence, no one saying a word. Edd heard the calls and cries of the people below, but he ignored them. For once, he felt in peace, in the moment.

"If one is given life, then they deserve it. Look at me. Me given an existence upon this world means that I have a purpose. Equally for you" he waited for an answer.

"That means my purpose is making people feel miserable!" she yelled, breaking out into sobs again. Edd sighed.

"Your life has only just started. Finishing it without giving it a chance is pity. Give yourself that chance, and you will see." The girl was silent, and then she lay on his neck, picking slightly at his scarlet scales, tears wetting them.

"I let you go, you know…" she mumbled.

"Pardon?"

"The day my sisters and I caught you, I was the last holding on, remember?" Edd shuddered at the memory, remembering that he wasn't exactly himself at the moment. She felt it.

"What?"

"Well, at that moment, I lost control; it is logic that you wanted to hold me back…"

"Well, I realized that we shouldn't have caught you in the first place…"

"But you said something about letting me go"

"Well, I saw you wanted to leave, I just let the lasso fall"

"Then I am deeply grateful"

"I thought that you let me fall down there on purpose."

"I would never do such a thing."

"But I caught you, didn't I? I hurt you!"

"Ah, but one of the rarest things today is forgiveness. One must grant it without a grudge."

Silence followed.

"I thought I would never see them again…" Edd hummed.

"You thought that you will never see them again, but now you know you will. Take advantage of that, tell the people you know what you want." She giggled, feeling the warm sun on her back. She has lost all will to kill herself.

"Thank you…" she whispered.

"For what?"

"For so much…helping me now, and helping me the first time we met." Edd remembered. He hummed again, she sighed.

He felt at peace. For whatever reason, this silence shared with his gravest enemmy was the most comfortable one he has ever live. Letting himself fly on warm currents, he glided slowly down to earth.

* * *

><p>A few minutes later, the dragon landed, crouching to let her down easily. Edd heard the crowd gasp, but he was watching her walk away, separate from the group. She looked around seeing that Edd wasn't there. He reassured her with a glance, and flew away. He heard the teacher ramble on how this was the first time this has happened, but he didn't pay mind.<p>

He now saw the middle Kanker under a different light. She had feelings, and was aware of the pain she caused. Not that he expected her to change, but now he was slightly reassured. He landed once the class was out of sight, and ran as a human towards the class.

He heard her count the students, always shrieking when she realized for the hundredth time that he was missing. He made his appearance.

"Hello! Is everybody ok?" he said, making a slight limp. It was necessary for his plan.

"Oh, my goodness! What happened Eddward?" asked the teacher.

"The dragon tossed me out. I met him on my way the driver's cabinet." He reasoned.

"So, is everybody well?" he asked again. His breath was cut off as somebody ran up to him and hugged him really hard. Sure enough, it was Marie Kanker. He staggered back slightly, putting a fake confused expression on his face. He now understood his state of ease as he was a dragon with her. He was then so much bigger, but now she was just a centimeter smaller than him, and is was a good fear factor. But he understood her emotional state, she was human after all.

Edd watched as the teacher imitated a movement, indicating that she fell. Edd made it look like understanding overcame him and relaxed only oh so slightly. On the way back, being met halfway by a rescue wagon, Marie was always with him. She was silent, and calm in a most eerie way, but she just never left him.

They were returned to their homes, and Edd flopped on his bed, exhausted. He has ignored the girl during the entire trip, remembering that he hated her, but also felt sympathy, so he balanced the two. He remembered her expression as he left her side as the parted in different directions. She looked lost, distressed. Sighing it off, knowing that the next day she was going to be fine, he went to sleep. For some reason his thoughts were completely tumbled.

* * *

><p><strong>In. One. Day.<br>I think I just pulled off a miracle. How could I have done this in three hours? Darn...  
>Well, I don't know what to think of this chapter. A lot of things happened, physicly and mentally.<br>I think that later this story will have more romance in later chapters, and this chappie perfectly indicated the couple.  
>Well, thank you for giving me any tips, requests, anything! <strong>


	7. Interactions

Chapter 6

Interactions

The days went by peacefully. The incident by the cliffs was closed, because nobody could identify what happened. Edd was somehow happy that nobody could know, otherwise they might learn something about him.

The December exams were arriving, and they were shortly followed by the Christmas vacations. Edd has hardly studied, but he knew that he wasn't going to have too much problems with them. Eddy was well prepared, and Ed improved at his own speed. Kevin looked slightly worried, and Nazz looked like she was going to have a nervous breakdown at any moment. The stress hung in the air, and Edd could literally smell it.

Yes, fear and other feelings had a real smell. The adrenalin from fear is detectible for Edd's nostrils, and the metallic odor followed him everywhere.

But outside school the cul-de-sac was deadly quiet. Eddy and the Eds were always studying, or napping, in Edd's case. The Kankers weren't seen very often (much to Eddy's pleasure), and Edd knew why.

Marie's wound still hasn't healed, for some strange reason. Her sisters are worrying plus they freaked out when they discovered that the middle sister nearly died.

But Edd didn't worry too much. He was even living in a perfect harmony between his human and dragon life.

The only think he asked himself if he was able to spit fire. Most dragons of legend had that particular ability, and Edd was wondering if he had it as well. He has tried several times, but it never came.

That Wednesday morning, knowing that he was an hour early for school , he headed for the library.

The stash of books next to him was a foot high, but Edd knew it would only take an hour to look it all through. He didn't look over math just yet; it was only pure logic anyway. The boy took out geography, the shortest and possibly the easiest subject. He opened the book, flipped his notebook to a fresh page, took his pencil and scribbled away.

Half an hour later, Geography and History were taken care of. He has already used up ten pages in his notebook, but he enjoyed it.

"Uh, Double D?" asked a voice.

"Yes?" he asked politely, turning around. There, he stood (or sat in his case) face-to-face with his nightmare, Marie. He started to sweat; there goes a quiet morning of work.

"I want to ask you something" she said. She spoke evenly, not showing much emotion. She wasn't being energetic, or bored. It wasn't shy, imposing or angry. It was a normal, interrogative tone.

"Please, go on…." He trembled. This lack of emotion was worrying him slightly. She looked like she had rested recently, and her arm seemed to look better.

"Well, the exams are coming up, and I'm kind of scared, so can you help me?" he was deep in thought. Sure, he shouldn't refuse, but he was wondering why him again. She had sisters, didn't she? It seemed like she read his mind.

"My sisters don't know that I'm working, nor does anybody else…" she added. Edd saw that she wasn't speaking like she usually did. She used more or less correct sentences, and a slightly wider range of vocabulary. He didn't hesitate too much. They were in the back of the library, who was there to see?

"Very well" he said, showing her a chair in front of him, across the table. As she sat, he asked another question.

"What would you like to study?"

"Well, math is pure logic, I think I can handle that." He smiled inwardly. "But that stupid French just doesn't click in my head!" he sighed, that wasn't an easy language to learn.

"Ok, do you have your books?" she nodded, and started unpacking her bag.

"Well, let's get to work, shall we?"

During the rest of their time they worked, and even met after school they studied until six. Not that he was growing a friendship with her (she and her sisters attacked them in the middle of the day), but he was helping her study. If she wanted to succeed in life, who was he to say no to her? He himself told her to try something at life.

"Do you understand it now?" he asked pointing to the French book. It was true that the language had many exceptions in the grammar and spelling, but otherwise it wouldn't be French. She nodded.

"Thanks, I owe it to you" she said, and then left for home. Edd looked at her leave, thinking about how everyone has changed in the past two years. We were all getting more mature and responsible, in their own kind of way. But he will never forget that he was the one who has changed the most dramatically.

* * *

><p>The next day, the kids were signing tryouts for the football team. Edd knew that his superior strength, ability and cunning would make him a great teammate.<p>

But he knew that if he was too good, like the first day in gym with his alter-ego, people will get suspicious. He got away with it that time, but he will not this time.

Edd remembered with a shudder as the neiboring team crushed them last year. The boys there were real gorillas, and the boys of the cul-de-sac were not. It was so unfair, so Edd decided to make things even ,and he listed himself in.

"What? You're enrolling for the try-outs? You know that's suicide!" said Eddy, remembering the crushing defeat of Peach Creek.

"Well, Eddy, it seems that I want to get a second chance at those monsters. Anyway, a game can't hurt anyone." He responded.

"But Double D! You will be squished like a bug under my shoe! Poor thing…" said Ed in his overly exaggerated fashion.

"Fine, I'll enroll myself too…" said Eddy.

"Me too, guys!"

Edd shook his head. He knew that Eddy always did consider him and Ed his friends. The massacre from the last year gave him a good idea of damage those bulls could do.

"Hey! Are you dorks signing up for the football tryouts!" came an annoying nag-like voice who belonged to Kevin, the jock. "Wicked! A game of football and a smashing show! If you even get the team!" Edd was able to think of at least ten different come-backs, but he kept his mouth shut. His old character wouldn't have said anything, just quivered in silence. Kevin was the captain of the football team, and was an impressive player himself. Over the last two years he has grown a lot, but he was always smaller then Ed.

"Grrr! I'll show him, I'll show him that I can play!" raged Eddy.

"Double D? Is Eddy angry or is he a bunny?" asked the big Ed, referencing to the were-rabbit. Edd just sometimes didn't understand his logic.

"Oh, leave him. The sooner he loses steam, the better." Replied Edd, slightly nonchalant. He retreated to the library for rest. He was slightly surprised to see Marie there. He didn't know exactly how he felt about her. Was he scared of her? Did he feel sorry for her, or did he understand her? He actually didn't know anymore. She still chased him, but was growing mature, and was studying. She was more reasonable, and was more understanding for other person's feelings. So what did that make them? He decided to greet her.

"Hello, Marie. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, hi Double D!" She approached him, not really normally, but not like she used too, either.

"Say, can you show me were the good books are?" she shoved towards him, showing a bit of her older character.

"Uh…what are you looking for?" he tried a smile. Apparently he was only truly comfortable with her when they had a book in-between them.

"Oh, some geography, mostly. But I like fantasy, supernatural and cars too." She said. He gulped. Fantasy and supernatural?

"Well, the geography is over there," he pointed to his left, behind her "and the magazines are there" he pointed in the other direction.

"Thanks." She said before heading towards the geography. Apparently she was still studying. He wondered what her sisters thought of it.

It was Friday afternoon, and Edd was cleaning his locker. Rearranging books, sharpening pencils, brushing away eventual dust. He was still wondering how he going to stay hidden during the camp, which started next Monday, or even stay awake the whole day. Apparently, it was a true nature camp, meaning they cooked their food with a fire and slept in tents. They were practically walking right next to a huge forest during the whole week, so he could hide there at night. But still…

Just then Eddy was walking towards him, bag full of books. What he didn't see was that Kevin stuck out his foot.

Edd nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard a huge amount of weight crash to the ground right behind him.

"Hey, watch it, Shovel-Chin!" that was Eddy. Edd turned around, seeing the scene unfold around him. Kevin picked up the smaller boy's bag, who weighed a ton.

"Hey, tiny dork, what is in here?" he asked smugly, opening it. Edd and Eddy blanched, knowing what was coming next.

"Whoa! You're studying? Looks like the dork really is a dork!" everybody started laughing at the Ed. Edd felt some sort of, slightly different rage, come up in him.

'Everyone can do what he wants! This is a free land!' something thought. But this something was different then the last. It was so wise; the intelligence overwhelmed him, instead of the raw power the last times. This voice spoke justice, but real justice, and wisdom. Without realizing it, his eyes turned bright blue, and he raised his hand.

His mind stretched and entered every single mind present in the area. Millions of thoughts, concepts, colors, lies, tricks, memories, and ideas plunged down on him. With a great concentration that didn't belong to him, he ignored them and clicked something identical in every person's mind.

He was somesort of super-mind right now. If he thought the presence that overwhelmed him in the clearing with the kankers was strong, the he was so wrong.

This being's mind was tenfolds stronger. He was able to ignore everything, and concentrate on one sole objective: everybody shut up and leave.

The crowd around him did shut up and left eyes blank and movements robotical. Slowly they grew normal again, and the crowd moved on, not seeing the stunned Ed by his clean locker.

The poor boy did not know what he has just done. Has he erased everybody's memories? How did he survive that mind attack? But one question now stood up to him.

Am I alone in this body?

* * *

><p>The weekend came and left. The Kankers left them alone this time, much to Eddy's and Ed's pleasure. But Edd didn't know what to think anymore. Too much has happened. First of all, he didn't know what he thought about Marie Kanker. She was too different.<p>

Next, but quite a smaller worry, the memories of everybody that Friday seemed to have dissolved into thin air. Even Eddy didn't remember a thing. But one thing Edd did find out was that the small Ed was now quite stronger than before. It seems that carrying books was just like some intense workout. Ed was getting smarter, but was still quite the same. He only exposed his knowledge when asked a question to which he knew the exact answer.

Edd, though, didn't know. He felt possessed, like he was never alone, he felt invaded, no longer to himself. He felt like these muscles weren't his, his intelligence wasn't his, and his very mind wasn't his. He felt like a visitor in his own body, but then, is this body his? He was now an alien to himself, a stranger in a known land. His movements seemed to be shared; his thoughts seemed to be scanned. When he saw something, somebody else saw it too. When he touched something, somebody else touched it as well. One question was being asked.

Was he alone?

But the whole weekend he helped his friends, doing scams and making costumes, never completely ridding him of that forbidding feeling that he was losing his time. He thought thoughts that weren't his as he did such things.

But he decided to live with it, as long as nothing too bad happened.

But inside his mind, others thought differently.

* * *

><p><strong>Aaagh, short chapter...<br>And I really don't like this one, for some reason. Ugh, did I sleep enough? Gaaah...  
>But...I think I will post another short one today, so watch out!<br>and I hope the next one will be better...**


	8. Discussions of the Mind

Chapter 7

Discussions of the Mind

He watched as his two friends were pondering the situation. Apparently the boy didn't know about them, and it was getting out of hand. Something was wrong. What happened during their death? She spoke.

"Can you please join us? I think I know what has happened." The red beast rose from whatever thought he was lying on, letting it fly. He walked/floated towards his two friends, who were crowded around a golden orb as they floated in the nothingness of this part of the mind. They leaned over the orb, casting light in this dark place.

"What happened, then?" He asked, looking at her. His other friend looked at her as well.

"We were cursed, I think" she said sadly. He frowned, she was never this sad. Worried, yes. Disappointed, yes. But she never was truly sad.

"Please explain" his friend asked, raising a great golden paw as a sign for her to continue. She looked at the golden pearl.

"As we died, we were cursed. We planned to make ourselves known to this boy, and borrow his body during nights and let his mind sleep. But, he interfered." The red beast gulped.

"What has he done, exactly?" he asked. She sighed, a tear staining her cheek.

"Almost the opposite. He has no clue about us. He remains awake at nights, losing sleep. Our powers are seeping into him. He is now strong like you, Firebreath, and has gained my intelligence. His character has changed, too. He is brave."

"But, what is so bad about it?"

"What we are seeing is fake. We kept communicating with an illusion. What we are seeing is an illusion. He is completely alone, with powers beyond imagination. We were being steered in the wrong direction"

"So you mean that we are not close to finding the Echnia?" asked the golden beast.

"No. Not only that, he is cursed, too." Receiving an expectant atmosphere, she continued. "Whenever he is in an extreme situation, we awake. It has happened to you, Firebreath, multiple times. We are not aware of it, but we help him only then. And the clues we gave him are detouring. He was told to search at the bottom of a bag."

"So he will find nothing?" he asked.

"No, he will find a clue, only the wrong one. His clue. His clue will make sure that once he reads it, his just newly trapped body will be freed again"

"So, basically, he cursed everything to his advantage?" Firebreath asked.

"Yes. Making the boy ignorant, making us ignorant, making the clue free him. We don't even know what his riddle will say, or said!" she said sadly.

"But, you said that he gained your wisdom and my strength. That means that he is capable of doing things himself" he reasoned."He is strong and wise, he could save himself"

"No…he was unaware of us, but now he is realizing that he isn't alone, and he is troubled, making a perfect opening" Silence followed.

"Can you show us what has happened during our absence?"

"Yes…" she touched the orb. The three beings watched the scenes play in front of them. Hours later, it finished. She spoke.

"This is better than I expected"

"Yes, he is saving himself quite well. He was the perfect choice" said the golden being.

"He is using our powers well and is hiding intelligently" Firebreath spoke. But the female remained worried.

"But, he is still cursed…" Firebreath hated seeing her like this.

"Can we contact him in any way?" he hoped. She shook her head no.

"Not unless he tries to read his own mind. He can think, but his mind, like every mind, is like two rooms. One were all the usual, known and aware things happen, the other is as if blocked by a locked door. When we penetrate minds, we see them both. But we all only see our first room. If he reads his own mind, he can break the locked door and find us." The two males sighed.

"Can he see the boy?" asked the golden beast.

"No. His seal will only free him spiritually when he gets the cursed riddle…" they sighed in relief.

"So he will save himself. He is smart, he is perfectly capable of saving the world." She smiled.

Without a word, and without them purely knowing it, the discussion ended.

* * *

><p><strong>Reeeaaally short. But meant to be that way.<br>I kinda like this chapter, it is very important, but complicated.  
>If you don't understand, just ask!<strong>


	9. Hell Camp and Hidden Angel

Chapter 8

Hell Camp and Hidden Angel

Sunday evening, after having completed every task his parent's sticky notes told him, Edd finished packing for the camp. Sleeping bag, torch, pillow with pillowcase, a few books, clothing, sunscreen, water bottle and all such ended up in his bag.

But the problems were still tumbling over in his mind. First, he had to hide for a whole week and survive the fatigue. He thought it will all come at the moment. It really wasn't something he could plan out.

But the second, more important one was the fact that he wasn't alone. He still felt watched by his own mind. He tried ignoring it, but it stuck like glue. He shrugged it off although it haunted him, and slept, till he awoke at sunset.

* * *

><p>The morning, a bunch of kids were put into a large bus. Edd winced at the mix of smells that they put off. Some really needed to shower!<p>

"Ok, students, listen up!" a muscular, but not unappealing woman rose as the bus departed. She had long blonde hair, and wore gym clothes. The kids silenced under the power of her powerful voice.

"I am your camp counselor for the week! My name is Miss Bigfist, and I will tolerate no unruly behavior! The program is the following, we get up at eight thirty" a groan spread through the crowd as Edd winced "and we hike till we get to our destination. Then, at approximately one o'clock, we do the activity planned. Today, we will barbecue and study the fauna and flora of this region. After dinner, we will assign you your tents, and teach you how to mount them. Tomorrow, survival studies, Wednesday we will look for birds. Thursday, insect study and Friday we leave after the hike. Am I understood?"

"Yes Miss Bigfist" was heard.

"Psst, Double D!" Eddy whispered. The boy looked at him. He was sitting between his two friends, way in front of the bus.

"Yes Eddy?" he asked. He saw that he was constantly looked towards the end of the bus, and Ed was sweating, his eyes stressed and more opposite than ever. Those symptoms meant only one thing.

"The Kankers!" the smaller boy hissed. Edd wasn't surprised.

"Of course, Eddy. The whole grade is coming on this camp!"

"Don't you get it? We are spending a whole week with the Kankers!" he hissed, eyes wide, grabbing at the hooded boy's collar. Edd sweat. Of course! That was what was bugging him! Marie was going to follow him everywhere, and will of course realize his disastrous symptoms! He gulped, loudly.

This week was going to be a very long one.

* * *

><p>As they arrived at the camp, they set up the barbecues at a nice place near a river. The three sisters were being nice for the time being, probable enjoying camping. The male trio was also having fun, Eddy making jokes and the other two laughing. Kevin was with the other jocks, surrounded by the cheerleaders. Rolf has set up a massive bonfire, roasting huge pieces of meat. The counselor sat in her corner, keeping an eye on the students.<p>

After two hours of playful fun, the group started trekking through the woods. Edd was able to spot and identify most creatures, his heightened senses permitting him to know what passed where and when. He was enjoying himself, and decided that he put his troubles aside for the time being.

Soon enough the group started heading towards the camp site designated for them. It was a large grassy field. A soft wind blew through it, and birds chirped, ignoring the visitors. Edd looked at it from the antler he found, much to most kid's jealousy. Tables were set up (kids took turns to carry them and the tents around) and dinner was served. Rolf was immensely pleased when he learned that they were eating more meat. The kids laughed, ate and drank; everybody was having a good time. After a while, Miss Bigfist stood and cleared her throat.

"OK, listen up! I am now going to tell you your groups, and then you can mount your tents. Two people are going to sleep in one tent, and the teacher and I have made special care to pair you up in a way that you will make the less ruckus. Remember, no exchanging campmates! So you will mount your tents by two, and nobody is going to go help anybody else. You guys got to learn how it's done. So, Nazz, you may pair up with Johnny" Nazz protested with a loud 'again?', but the counselor shot her a glare.

"Kevin will go with Eddy" Eddy fainted on-the-spot. Kevin started cracking his knuckles, and mix of a scowl and a smirk on his face.

"May will go with big Ed" the Ed in question fainted as well, and May started jumping in joy biting on her bottom lip with her missive beaver-teeth.

"Rolf will have the pleasant company of Lee"

"No! Not the fire-haired demon!" Lee, she muttered a 'lucky' in May's direction.

"And Marie will go with Eddward" Edd froze, and Lee was now profoundly jealous of her two sisters.

Edd was counting his heart beats, wondering if he was going to live through this. Now she was sharing his tent! The boy felt her happy gaze on his back. What was he going to do? What cruel fate has decided this? Why him? Well, Ed wasn't in a better situation, nor Eddy, but still, he could accept being selfish for now.

She was going to find him out, no doubt anymore. She was going to stick to him like glue, disrespect any of his personal space. This was very problematic.

"Hey, cutie!" she squealed as she jumped him. He winced. Her joyful will to live her way came back again, apparently. "It seems like we're paired up together!"

Edd sighed. He will have to do his very best…

After the counselor showed them how to mount the tents, he kept looking at the girl who has surprisingly offered to help him. He has developed a case of nerves in two minutes; the stress was making him hallucinate. He kept seeing her looking at him as if he were a monster, and saw the torches play tricks in his eyes. The calm just wouldn't come to his mind.

The tent had two compartments, one for each. It gave them privacy to change, and let them sleep in peace, without the bother of the other's snoring, or such. The boy brushed his teeth, and prepared to get changed into his pajamas. Not that he needed to, but he had to make himself look human.

"Hey, oven mitt, do you mind me sleeping by the door?" she asked, creeping up under his chin. Oh, how uncomfortable.

"Hum, no…" he muttered, not completely knowing what was going on. After she thanked him in her usual Kanker-ish way, she closed the door connecting their two rooms and closed the flap opening the tent. That was when he realized.

She was now sleeping by the door! How could he get out? Probably muttering a curse for the first time, he got changed himself, unpacked his sleeping bag and went to bed.

"Lights out!" yelled the counselor, and then there was darkness. Only the slowly setting sun was giving off a faint light.

"G'night, cutie." Edd heard her snuggle in her bag. The boy heard commotion from Ed's tents, and a crunching punch from Eddy's. Miss Bigfist silenced them, recieving a pair of releived sighs.

Edd thought for a moment. Besides a few personal bubble infractions, Marie was acting quite ok, for a Kanker. Sure, she acted usual for anyone else, but with him she was a bit softer. A _bit. _As darkness crept over the tent canvass, Edd realized that sundown was almost over. He struggled out of his tent, making half sure that Marie didn't hear him. She seemed to be sleeping already, but he didn't make too much attention. The sun disappeared, and he was just barely in the forest.

"That was _too _close…If that happens again, then Marie will surely find out!" he sighed. He looked at himself. The dark parted from his line of vision, seeing everything clear as glass.

He landed in a small clearing, hardly wide enough for him, but it would have to do. The grass was slightly dry, and he could smell the tracks of animals that have passed recently. The lay down, and started daydreaming, the closest to sleep he could get.

* * *

><p>Edd dragged himself in his tent. Marie groaned as he stubbed his foot on her elbow, just as he went to his sleeping bag.<p>

"Wake up, you maggots!" screamed the counselor. Edd sighed. He slept a little, more than normal school days. He was used to mornings with these conditions, but with the thorough work and absence of a nap, he guessed that by the end of the day he would be noticeably tired. By the end of the week he should be extenuated. With a sigh, he regrettably heard Marie use choice words for mornings, and got dressed.

After breakfast, he packed the tent, and accepted happily as Marie offered to carry it. It wasn't that heavy for him, but it still tired his muscles. During the whole morning, they walked towards their next destination, Edd slowly getting more and more tired by the passing hour.

They stopped for lunch, and then continued their route.

When they arrived, they unpacked and started learning survival in the forest. How to find north, get yourself un-lost, a few bandages, and such. Edd was hardly listening, he already knew it all, and truly, did he actually need to know this? Sure, it could come in handy one day, but he can turn into a dragon!

"Eddward! How Do you find the north?" screamed Miss Bigfist, startling him awake.

"Put a stick in the ground, as vertical as possible, and put a rock on its shadow's location. Fifteen minutes later, put a new rock on the new shadow, the rocks iare east and west." he responded quickly, yet sloppily.

Marie looked at him. He seemed slightly absent, and a bit tired. A bit too much tired. He did run out of the tent last night, and she could have sworn he only came back in the morning.

She shrugged it off, thinking it wasn't her business. Yes, she thinks a bit more about that, now.

Edd stumbled over to dinner. Eddy was asking him if he was fine, and Edd assured that he **was** fine. Ed was also worried, but in his own way. The capped boy was worrying. He was more tired than expected. The boy could play sick, but it would jeopardize the whole camp. Other ideas like that also fell into water; all he could do was live with it. He will have to go to bed early.

He fell into his bed (sleeping bag) and slumbered off right away. He knew he will wake before sunrise, so he didn't have to worry.

Marie looked at him sleep right away. He seemed off, not like himself. Sure, he was slightly out of character a few weeks ago, but he was never tired. The boy was always well rested, and went to bed at timely hours. He never accepted a breach in his rules, so why was he sleeping in his clothes and creeping out of bed at sundown?

She wondered. He trully was acting strange. He was also braver then before, tutoring her without yelling for help. The accident in the science class and such were sighns of abnormality. also, didn't he sighn up for the football tryouts? That wasn't Edd.

But still. he was being kinder and more open. He tutored her, and now she can try to help him.

* * *

><p>Edd's night proceeded as planned, and he has found a clearing that was large and fresh. Thinking that he had all night to daydream, he decided to think.<p>

He didn't worry about his family, they were always fine. Correct, timely, clean, proper, polite, and just perfectly fine. He chuckled. Then he thought about his friends.

Eddy and Ed were great, Eddy was getting good at school, but that didn't stop him from playing pranks and making scams whenever he could. Ed was still improving, but in his own speed, of course.

His own situation, and not only his present one, was not as good. He still had the impression of being followed by his own mind, but it was better now. The Echnia was still a riddle for him (...), and he literally had no clue what he had to do. And speaking of riddles…

He honestly had no clue what to make of Marie. She was nicer, but still fun in her own way. She still affronted him, but in a more gently way. She still attacked him, but she was more caring. What, and were was she now, characteristically? Was she the evil Kanker he had always known, or was she turning into a different person? Also, he had spotted her looking at him multiple times. Was she suspecting him? Sure, she was always around him, and the symptoms were clear and well defined.

And what would she do if she did find out, eventually? I mean, he could never be too prepared. She was constantly glued to him, so how could it not happen? Would she panic? Will she try to master him and make him do her doings? Will she understand? Will she ignore him for the rest of his existence? The boy honestly didn't know.

Sighing, he dropped the subject, finding no end in the knot, and started daydreaming till dawn.

At sunrise, he slinked back to his tent. He fell in his bed again, and he was really tired. He really didn't want to get up.

When he heard the counselor ring the morning bell, he groaned. Why him? He turned over on his stomach, pulling the pillow over his head. He was a little hungry, but he didn't care, all he wanted was sleep.

"Edd, are you ok?" asked an insisting voice. Who was that? His brain was sleepy, too, so he couldn't process it. He smelled nothing but the plastic floor of the tent, so he couldn't sniff her out, either. He winced as he thought the 'sniff out'. He was starting to feel like a dog.

"You don't look so great. Yesterday you tired as well. Are you sure you're fine?" asked the voice again. He still couldn't put his finger on it. Who could it be? Who would be caring for him, and be a girl?

"Hey, the counselor is coming, you better get up, or you're getting yelled at" She walked away, and Edd heard rustling of clothing.

It was Marie! How could he have missed it? They shared tents!

But then again, how could he have seen it? She was speaking so gently, like a wife to a husband.

Edd immediately chased that example out of his head and gulped.

A few minutes later she came again, now surely dressed, not that he could see.

"You up, sleepy head?" she asked playfully. He gulped. This new Marie was slightly off, not to mention way out of character. It freaked him out and yet, it was kind of comforting. What could he say? Even his own mother didn't talk to him like that for a long time. Not to mention he was still in bed…

"Are you mangy scallops awake?" yelled the counselor. And that was going to change very soon. He groaned again as he started moving, motioning to get up.

"No, you don't, just stay in bed. I'll bring you breakfast" she whispered before heading out the tent.

The boy froze, and then let himself fall. That was confusing. Why was she acting like this? In any case, Edd was deeply grateful. One, he could sleep, two he was having breakfast served.

But it still shook him that it was Marie Kanker speaking. His worst enemy, the wildest of the three sisters, and she was serving him breakfast. Sure, he had helped her with school, sure he had saved her from a crash (not that she knew), sure that he has helped her here and there, but it was still the same person! How could she change so quickly? His own mind betrayed him as he fell in a deep sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Agh, i really don't like the ending...<br>But the next chapter is good, really good (for me, at least). It will be hard making it sound as un-corny as possible.  
>Well, see you guys in the next chapter!<strong>


	10. Questions and Answers

Chapter 8

Questions and Answers

Edd slept peacefully, not truly dreaming. He hadn't dreamed since he turned into a human-dragon hybrid. His sleep could be deep, but he never dreamed. sad, really.

"Hey, sleepy-head get dressed. You have fifteen minutes." That was Marie again. She was being so nice, it was unsettling. It was too out of character, but he knew he had already said that. She was acting how she was, and so it was. It is good for him, then why should he interfere? He knew he seemed selfish, but for the moment, he just didn't care. Also, he kind of deserved it. He saved her, helped her, and other people, too. He was allowed to have a little rest, right?

In any case, his only response to the girl was an incoherent mumble, as he got up and started getting dressed; making sure that the small zipper door was well shut. She didn't need to see that he now had a superhero physique. He realized with a groan that he has grown again; his shirt was getting too tight. He is going to have to buy new clothes. He went outside after having eaten his breakfast, and greeted the shining sun. The boy watched as the middle Kanker went to her sisters, acting like she always did. His friends were approaching, Eddy looking slightly mad.

Edd knew he was going to have quite a few questions to wave off.

The day passed easier for our hero, Marie discreetly helping him in any way possible, and the whole while keeping up her reputation. She helped document the birds and feathers they found, and was exceptionally kind and gentle to him. Edd, still a stranger to this new character, just accepted the help.

At dinner, he was tired again, though. Eddy was talking to him, but he hardly listened. Ed was worrying about him, but Edd had to ignore them.

He entered his tent, and saw Marie just sitting there, looking at something he couldn't see. He cleared his throat.

"Yeah?"

"Well, I came to thank you for your help today…" he trailed off, getting nervous. He realized that he hasn't said a word to her for the whole day. She smiled in return.

"But I was wondering, why-"

"Why am I being so kind?" she finished. He nodded. He should have expected that.

"Well, I realized that something was off with you, although I don't know what, I thought that I should help you through it. Besides, I owe you" She said respectfully. Edd was feeling happier, he didn't know exactly why. With another word of thanks, he got in his half of the tent and went to bed.

Marie sat there. What was so important and so bad that he had to hide it? Did it have to do with his hat? I mean, nobody has ever seen whatever was under it. He even hid from his friends, apparently. They were frustrated at him, and she has seen him wave them off. Why was he tired, why did he leave, why was he so mysterious? Shrugging it off with difficulty, she went to bed.

The next day passed identically, but Edd was slightly more tired and Marie's suspicion was growing, but she refused to bend under the pressure.

That night, Edd went to bed early again, and Marie was unknowingly watching him. She couldn't shrug her curiosity off. She decided to stay up till he went out.

At sunset, she heard him move. So sunset was his timer. He walked out the tent quickly and smoothly, almost too smoothly. It was unreal, like he was another creature. She froze as he stopped to look at her. She then assumed the regular sleeping symptoms, regular breathing and such, hoping that it would convince him.

The boy didn't seem to want to waste his time; he left after a quick glance. She looked through the canvas, the sun was nearly set. She lay down, trying to distract herself to sleep.

She really shouldn't be poking her nose in his business. It didn't concern her. Hell, he nearly never said anything to her. The person who was the nicest to her wasn't even human; it was the great red dragon.

The beast has always been kind to her, communicating or not. He saved her twice, once when she was sure she was bleeding to death, the second time when she was freefalling, and not for fun. He had comforted her, spoken to her, interacted with her. He was the only one who actually acted like a friend towards her. Her sisters were her sisters, and the other kids of the cul-de-sac were terrified of her. She sighed. But as nice as he was, he wasn't Edd.

Edd was cute in his own smart way. He was kind, and always respected her. He never shouted at her, but never truly communicated with her, besides when they were studying. She smiled. If only Edd had the courage of the red beast, if only they could have spoken.

But, he was never there when the beast was. She never saw them together, and he was even missing when they captured the dragon.

She sat up, putting pieces together.

They were the same person! They looked alike, were never seen at once together, and the dragon was only seen at sunset. Edd left at that time, so…

But then, he acted strange. He seemed to be rush-y when changing, was probably involved when she got the answer at science, she let go without knowing why in the train, and always slept!

But it was impossible. How can that happen? Thought the pieces clicked, they fit, so…

Without wasting another second, she rose, preparing to solve a mystery.

* * *

><p>Edd was dragging himself to his regular clearing. He was so tired. He hated being torn from his sleep by his own mind. It was a shrill sound thta woke him, a cross between a scream, a howl and a fire siren. It was enough to wake the dead.<p>

"It's ok Eddward, tomorrow you can nap…" he thought. But it was barely reassuring. Now, he was wishing for his never-tired alter-ego to take his constant grasp on him. In his own despair, he wandered on.

The girl followed the tracks. Apparently, he was walking very slowly, but with a certain grace. His footprints were clear, and she could read them very well. He was only a few dozen yards ahead of her, getting deeper into the woods.

She started getting more and surer that he was him. Why else would he go in the thick woods?

The girl froze when a blinding red light and a tired howl shone through the branches in front of her.

Speeding up, not paying mind to the tracks in front of her, she sprinted through the woods.

"Why me…." She heard. Slowing down to a tip-toe, she gently and silently pushed away the branches, revealing to her the scarlet dragon. Holding back a gasp, she looked at him and its surroundings, searching for proof that he may be Edd. They were in a large clearing, the floor was covered in soft moss and the air was moist.

Looking down at the tracks imbedded in the moss, the girl saw her proof. The prints were small, and had the rough shape of a sneaker. Then, they brusquely transformed into the massive prints left by the beast's claws.

"All I want is sleep!" she heard. The girl studied it. It was slightly bigger than their last encounter, and it had a little more buff. It looked sad, holding the same expressions as the smart Ed. The beast hung his head, swaying slightly in the light breeze. Taking her decision, she stepped into the clearing.

"Double D?" the reaction was spontaneous. He looked at her, and panicked. He looked around for an exit that wasn't the sky, stumbling over his own feet, falling down over and over. Marie giggled at the comical scene.

"Hey, don't worry, I won't bite!" she yelled over the noise the beast was making. It calmed down slightly, but the atmosphere had a tense feeling of suspicion in it. The girl sat down, far enough from him, proving her point. He relaxed a bit more, and sat as well, still a bit tense, his nerves and reflexes strung tight. It reminded her of a scared horse.

"So that's what it was, huh?" she asked, motioning him.

"You're the dragon" she stated. The beast in question looked away, head hanging again. She observed him.

He didn't look tired, only worried and exhausted in a mental way. He wasn't doing so hot. The beast looked at her this time, with a greater worry then she has ever seen.

"Hey, don't worry. I won't tell anyone…" she reassured, raising her hand slightly.

"So mind telling me how this is possible?" it looked down again, then back at her, noticeably uncomfortable.

Before she could add anything, she felt something in her mind. It wasn't like a persistent feeling like a headache, but something coming from her very thoughts. Then, her eyes closed, and she saw it all.

She saw the red light, the poem, or riddle, the experience of flying, the worry at school, the save, the train, everything. Every single thing that has happened since that day was told to her, being made aware of the slightest detail and his smallest feeling, and thought. She lived his life for a brief moment, even though the story lasted multiple weeks. When she opened her eyes, she knew the situation better than before.

So he traveled her mind before, huh? So in science, it was a complete accident, but in the train, he had a good reason. Everything he did was explained; even the day he went completely berserk.

"So, you can't sleep." He nodded. Marie now knew why he hid from her.

"You were scared of me knowing" she let it sink in, though she didn't know exactly why it meant so much.

"So you can erase memories" she asked, referencing to the day Eddy was mocked. No one remembered it, so it must have been Edd.

But the beast shook his head no.

"It wasn't you, right?" Marie felt the tension in the atmosphere soften a bit; she didn't know it was so thick.

They pondered the situation. He, the know-it-all boy from the school, the brains of the clumsy trio, the boy with the hat secret, was the dragon. She, his everlasting attacker, the middle sister of three girls, the harsh and brash girl of the school, had found out his secret. Honestly, they didn't know what to do now.

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone, and I won't harm you" she said suddenly, breaking the silence. He nodded, understanding.

"I would like to help if I can" this time, he thought it over, not responding right away. What in Newton's name should they do? He had a few, but not a lot, options.

First, he could ask her to forget about him being the dragon, giving them uncomfortable situations when they crossed in the halls. People will think why, and get wrong ideas, especially if she renounced to attack him.

Second, he could welcome her in his situation, letting her help. But then, if other people realized how much they're getting together, then again it will be suspicious.

"I think I know what we should do." She said out of the blue. "I think I should help you. I mean, why not? I know your secret (no, I am not going to blackmail you about it), I know your problem, and I am a wiz at pretty much anything involving codes, keys and problems" she offered. She was a bit surprised when she heard him chuckle. Before she could ask, he said in a deep, rumbling voice that resembled his slightly,

"You sound like Eddy, talking about his brother" he chuckled again. It was a curious sound, like rocks falling down a hill, rumbling deeply. She raised a brow. Seeing that she didn't understand, he showed her his memories. She started laughing too.

"Is Eddy's brother really that good?"

"I have no idea…" Edd was surprisingly quite content. Somebody was sharing his secret; he no longer held this burden on his own.

"Well, can I help?" she asked again, calming down. He thought for a short while.

"Of course, if we start acting all friendly to each other during the day, folks are going to get suspicious. We will have to act the same we always have" she stated. "That means, you trembling when you see me, me smirking when I see you, me chasing you, you avoiding me, etc…" Edd nodded.

"Then, you can lead us to an abandoned or empty janitor closet so we can talk about the problem. Then we can solve riddles without anyone knowing" she finished. He nodded content with this plan.

They talked for a few hours, him saying that they could meet every night in a clearing between their two homes, her saying that she could use a cloak to hide her identity if any one saw them. Then they talked about random subjects, jokes, teachers, friends and family, until she fell asleep.

He was curled around her, replacing the use of an absent blanket. He looked up at the shining stars, happy and content.

He has found an ally, a most unexpected one. She, his enemy, was now probably his closest friend. She might have surpassed Ed and Eddy just by learning his secret in this one short night. Although his two friends will always be his two best friends, he shared a somewhat closer relationship with the middle Kanker sister.

* * *

><p><strong>And I end it here! It is sort of a cliffy, but not really.<br>This is important for further chapters and situations. If the ally was anyone else, then the story could have been a lot less interesting. Besides, Edd is now only happy with this now because he is tired, and couldn't have thought it through very well yet, a bit like a drunk-ish situation.  
>But hey, he is feeling better, for now, and that is all that matter, right?<br>Next chapter, stuff really starts! **


	11. A New Beginning

Chapter 9

A new beginning.

The beast was almost amused by their situation. A month ago, he hated her, and she chased him. Then, they slowly learned to trust eachother through helping and listened to one another. He now saw her more as a human being, and she saw him now as a person, and not as a distraction. Then, their whole relationship changed in one night, when she discovered his secret, and when he trusted her to keep it.

But now that Edd felt more in peace, and that he was now able to think, he still felt a doubt.

Should he trust her to help him? She was a Kanker, the smartest one at that, and could very well help, but was it a good idea?

Or was it another trap of hers? Though she promised that she woouldn't say anything to anyone, and he saw the truth in her mind, he still had those quivering doubts.

He shook off those thoughts when the morning came, and he carried her to their tent, carefully avoiding the counselor. Putting her in her sleeping bag, he retired to his own, and fell asleep.

That morning, he felt much less tired then expected, so he was able to participate at breakfast and at the morning announcements. Well, Miss Bigfist was just saying that they were going home that day, but not much besides.

Afterwards, he packed him stuff one final time, collapsed the tent, delivered whatever wasn't his, and got on the bus with his friends.

What he feared the most with his hidden friendship with the blue-haired sister was what would happen if they got discovered? Would they understand? Surely not. They would ask why, and other things, and that will surely lead him to some lonely, gruesome situation that he didn't want.

"Hey, Sock Head, you feeling better?" asked Eddy, in a blunt way. Of course, did you expect him to sound like he really cared? Edd smiled slightly

"Yes, just these last nights, I just didn't get much sleep" he answered, waving a hand in the air. Eddy and Ed visibly blanched.

"Was the Kanker keeping you up?" Eddy asked suspiciously, wide-eyed, fearing for the worst. Ed yelled.

"Marie is a bad, naughty, insensitive girl!" Edd stared at him. Before he could comment, Eddy cut in.

"Yeah, Sock Head, I taught him a little more vocabulary". Edd was content, they were really studying!

"Well?" asked the short Ed.

"Well what?"

"Is it the Kanker?" he whispered carefully. Edd scoffed at the idea, knowing that now, she wouldn't harm him in any way.

"No, Eddy, you are getting too many ideas in your head. I stayed up from my own will, nothing to worry about". Eddy and Ed visibly relaxed.

"Hey! Get in the bus, we're leaving!" yelled the counselor, Miss Bigfist. The last kids ran up into the vehicle and sat in their seats. Edd turned to his taller companion.

"So, Ed. How was your stay with May?" he asked. Ed shrugged, shacking a little.

"The Kanker left him alone after lights out, but before and after she just wouldn't leave him alone" answered Eddy. Edd understood the reason of him knowing, his tent was always closer to Ed's.

"And you, Eddy?"

"Well, Kevin was roughly the same, but he punched me instead of whatever the Kankers do to us" the three shivered at the memory.

The rest of the voyage was filled with animated discussion, jokes and such. But when they came home, Edd departed for his most important destination at the moment; his bed.

Without unpacking, ignoring the constant, yellow sticky-notes, Edd lay in his bed, not falling asleep quite yet, because a familiar feeling set itself over him for the second time. He felt followed, watched, and spied. He supposed that the feeling left him because of his fatigue at camp, he has completely forgotten about it. He sat up, uncomfortable. Who was watching him? Lying down again, he shook it off and rested, too tired to think now.

* * *

><p>He got up hours later, at six in the afternoon. Realizing that the room was slightly too yellow of sticky-notes, he completed the most of them, and went up to his room. The sun was about to set, and Edd was feeling mixed emotions.<p>

He didn't know what he was going to do. What was he going to do in the first place? What did he have to do? Solve a riddle? Well, that seems kind of obvious, but were to start?

Feeling only slightly impatient for the sun to set, he wondered more. In what was she going to help? Was she offering said help because she sais she loves him, or does she owe him, or is she just going along for the ride? He really was hoping it wasn't the latter.

But he was impatient to know why all this was happening. Why him, as well. Maybe, even surely, she would help him find out faster.

Also, this constant feeling of being watched. He didn't even feel like taking a shower any more, not even shed his shirt!

That, too, was a problem. This alter-being was changing him too much. Edd was sure he was turning into a nocturne beast, and he was constantly hungry.

But those things were hardly realiseable from a stranger. What worrined him was his appearence.

He was sure he was growning, on both sides of his existence. His T-shirts were getting tight on all sides, and when he first transformed into a dragon, he could still fit outside the window, but now, standing outside, he reached it!

Also, his musculature was also growing, without him giving any commitment to it! If one day it would rain, then he would have to wear at least five sweaters so that the patterns of his muscles wouldn't show.

It was really worrying.

He was shaken from his thought as red appeared around him. Scrambling out the indow, he turned in mid-air. Taking a deep breath, he flew to the destined clearing.

* * *

><p>As he arrived, he realized that it was nice and fresh, and was large for him to stand and walk around it comfortably. He had only seen it from the sky, but it was really good for him to hide here.<p>

Edd lay in the soft grass, inhaling its scent as he waited for the girl. Studying the delicate blades, he saw how the small droplets caught on their rough surface, slowly, slowly dripping down the broken ends.

Wait. Nobody ever came in this clearing, why would the blades of the grass be broken?

Realising that he wasn't alone, he jumped up.

"Die, Dragon!"

Before the beast could react, his vision went blurry as his cheek was hit with something hard, really hard. Staggering back, more for safety then from the blow, he searched his enemy.

It was a middle-sized man, covered from head to toe with a thick, black cloak, holding a shimmering red sword in the right, gloved hand.

Edd shivered at the sight of the blade. It was long, lightweight, yet it was visibly strong, and flexible. It was the perfect sword for close and farther range combat.

It was perfect for fighting him.

Just barely gathering the information, he quickly dodged as the weapon came dangerously close to his face. In Edd's eye's, time froze.

How could anyone come here? Around the clearing was dense, and could only be found if one knew of it's existence. Did Marie betray him?

No, for some reason he knew she wouldn't. Seeing the figure fly past him slowly, as if in slow-motion, Edd lifted a paw to squish the intruder under it.

He was fast, too. Dodging it with grace, the stranger made for another srike. Edd dodged it, letting him fly by. The boy's tail flew in the cloaked man's direction, and from then on, noone could tell exactly what happened.

Edd's numbe cheek was bothering him, and he could hardly lay a finger on this strange character. As the otherwise peaceful clearing flew in a frenzy, ecos of sword against claw combat flew through the night.

* * *

><p>Edd was tired, really tired. His oppenent was no better, heaving and losing cmoposure, leaning on his knees. Besides Edd's numb cheek, none of the two was able to lay a blow on the other.<p>

edd kissed his life goodbye as the human charged again, too quick for even his tired eye.

Edd waited for the blade to sink between him red scales. Nothing.

"Dead" he heard. Opening his eyes, he looked at his opponent.

"Dead! I can't believe it, Double D! You are a legendary beast, but you lose against a perfectly normal human!" Edd watched in surprise as the stranger took off his hood.

"MARIE?" yelled the boy in surprise.

"Yup, the one and only!" she responded, getting off him. "But you did give up a good fight. Too bad you relaxed, giving me an opening…"

Edd just lay there, not moving, wide-eyed, looking at the girl dust off her cloak.

"But you should have known it was me in the first place, though" she said absentminded. He got up, expecting explanations. She saw him, and laughed. He blushed under his scales, embaressed; he must be looking like an absolute fool.

"Ha, well. I got here a few hours ago, then I made my sword from the swordfish we had at home. It made an excellent blade, but the balancing was hard. I practiced a little, and waited here for you." She looked deep in his brown eyes, and whispered, almost so soft that even he couldn't hear it. "Surprise attack is the hunter's best friend and worst enemy, lesson one" Edd nodded dumbly, not feeling anything but the strangest confusion.

"Sword fish?" was all he could say.

"Yep, who knew it could serve like this? I stole it while my thickhead sisters where watching TV. Just, don't tell them, though…" she smiled smugly. Edd finally regained his senses, and woke up a bit.

"So, what's the program?" he asked. The girl stared at him.

"You got to be kidding me, right? You are always the one with the plan!"

"Well, I was sleeping all day!" she sighed, understanding.

"Ah, no biggie. I already made kind of a program, anyway. We chat a few hours, talking about important stuff, or training. Then, till sunrise we go to the city. Really simple, though, it shouldn't be hard" Edd smiled. Talking or combat, eh?

"Well, I don't see why we shouldn't get started right away…" he said smugly. Without losing the occasion, he pounced, pinning her to a tree behind her.

"Dead…" he whispered in her ear.

"Hey! No fair!" she wiggled under his grip, not amused.

"Well, it wasn't really fair when you attacked me and my friends by surprise, either, wasn't it?" He asked smugly. She groaned, defeated. That was when she looked down.

"I never knew you were so tall…" Indeed, she was a good twenty feet in the air. From toe to shoulder, he was more then double his original size. He let her go, letting her fall gently on the ground.

"Heh, next time, we start combat with a warning" she said. Before he could respond, a sharp odor reeked into his nose. It was very familiar, he smelled it every day, but at this peculiar moment, he couldn't identify what it was. Then followed a smelly, un-clean smell close behind. That was surely and only Ed!

"Quick, get on my back!" he yelled mentally to the girl who was wondering why he froze like that.

"Wha-"

"Not now, get on!" he yelled. Not being able to spare another second, he grabbed her and took off, hearing Eddy snap a picture right behind him.

At a suitable height, he slowed down, and relaxed slightly, the cool air brushing past him.

"Hey, can you at least let me get on your back? I'm suffocating, here!" he chuckled, and helped her climb on his back. She sighed in annoyance.

"You could at least tell me when you are going to pull a stunt like that!" she put her hands on her hip, not that he could see.

"Well, to be completely honest, I had no time too." She grumbled, now crossing her arms.

"So, where is the city? I can't find anything from this height!" he chuckled again. Being with her in a friendly relationship was entertaining, you just couldn't get bored.

"Well, you have to use landmarks. Find a few places you could recognize anywhere, put them together, and you will easily find North and South" he said. She looked around for a minute or three.

"Well, there is the junkyard" she pointed in the correct direction "there is the trailer park" she pointed to the heap of dull colors at the edge of the forest "and there is the cul-de-sac" she finished. Her three landmarks were in a row, with the cul-de-sac in the middle.

"Good. Now you can determine where the North is" she remained silent.

"And just how do I do that?" she asked finally.

"Well, the north is perpendicular to the three landmarks you pointed out."

"But that leaves two places were the North could possibly be!" she said, growing impatient.

"Keep your patience, lesson two!" he pointed out. She grumbled more and slumped in her seat, in this case the crook of the dragon's neck.

"So..?"

"If you put the junkyard on the left, the trailer park on the right, then the North is straight ahead." He finished.

"Aha! So we are now heading, let's see…South-East!"She said triumphantly. He nodded his massive head in approval.

"Actually, I am a bit surprised you knew what perpendicular meant."

"You know, you are the one who pushed me towards learning that!" he chuckled once more. She could be so straightforward; it seemed as if she invented it.

"So, where is the city? I asked this question ten minutes ago!"

"Just South from the cul-de-sac, but the wind is making that direction of approach unadvisable, so I am making a small detour" the trip continued for a half an hour, him telling her why they made the detour, how the wind current worked, her asking the questions, being grumpy and/or stubborn. But the whole time, they were able to maintain a more or less peaceful conversation. The city lights soon engulfed them, and the boy had to fly higher as to not be seen.

"Can you really see from this high?" Marie asked in wonder. The girl was squinting just to make out the contours of the buildings. He nodded.

"I can also hear what the people down there are saying, smell what they are eating, and all that stays with me the whole day" she whistled in amazement.

"Would you like to see as well?" the boy asked. She nodded, wondering how he could possibly pull that off. Suddenly, her mind was overcome by a strange presence which she knew was Edd, and she felt it roam her senses.

It was the first time she could feel it this much. It felt wise, deep in knowledge; colors were dancing in her eyes just because of it. She could slightly feel his feelings, share his thought and concepts. But then, something else was there.

Before she could explore any deeper, he left, but it felt as if he left something behind. The girl looked down, trying to make out the shapes of the people below them. Suddenly, she felt like she was falling, falling down deep into the streets of the city. Details were observed up close, color separations were defined, and movements were predictable. Words filled her ears, discussions, plans and ideas.

"Oh, my, gosh" she spoke flatly, too amazed to express emotion, eyes wide.

"It is quite something, isn't it?" he asked. She nodded dumbly.

The duo flew over the populated city for a few minutes, during wich the streets emptied noticeably.

"Does the city really empty that fast in just five minutes?"

"Yes. Stores close, jobs done, schools finish, it is logic that the city is almost completely empty towards midnight. Now, our job starts." She nodded gravely, mentally preparing herself for the worst. She grabbed her sword which she has stored in a hilt who hung from her shoulder.

"You know, the worst is a murder, there is not much worse" the dragon pointed out.

"How do you know?" he knew she was asking about her preparing herself, not the fact that the worse was murder, and simply for the same reason.

"To give you the ability to see like me, I am still partly in your mind…" he reasoned. She huffed.

"You are so going to teach me how to block and visit minds." He nodded.

"Also, please don't say my name, and I won't say yours. The last we want is paparazzi at our doors"

It was her turn to nod, and they continued patrolling the streets.

Edd felt her mind turn numb, and he asked her what was wrong.

"There, at the corner of that street. A gang of guys are eyeing the jewelry store." He looked in the same direction, spotting the gang.

They were approximately twenty years old, and there were five of them, all men. They were indeed in front of the jewelry store, pockets full and wearing black clothes.

"What do we do?" Edd asked, uncertain. He always attacked single criminals, or small incidents. It was almost like in a video game, he increased his level and got a teammate, and the gaming gets harder. Marie huffed, tossing her sharp sword from one hand to the other.

"Well, if we show ourselves just like that, they can flee. If we capture them in the act, they can hide and then we can get framed" she explained smartly, whispering. Edd understood why she knew more than he did concerning this subject. She grew up with an unclear past and with uncertain relatives. He, he was a good boy, and went to school every day, finished his homework and worked extra. Considering the fact that he was loosening a little on the strict rules, he was sure to learn on this subject quickly.

The hybrid listened intently, mentally noting it all down.

"I recommend a surprise attack for this situation. I jump in front, and if they try to flee, you stop them." He nodded. The boy knew that the gang may have guns, but he knew that the girl could fend for herself.

* * *

><p>"So, let's go over this again…" murmured a tall man to his comrades.<p>

"I will blind the security by hacking into the system" said a smaller, lean, badly shaven redhead.

"I break the door open, and stay outside on the lookout for passer-bys" said a tanned young man with thin eyebrows.

"Good, me and the rest of you guys will go in and plunder the whole place!" finished the leader.

Edd overheard the conversation carefully, lending his strength to the girl who was now jumping like a flea from roof to roof. She made a detour, but even with her forces duplicated, Edd felt like this was taking too long.

Marie in question was darting from home to home, taking delight in her heightened senses. She was now stronger and more flexible, and saw the slightest twinge of movement anywhere. She couldn't even imagine how it would be to have all of his power. Halting over the to-be-plundered store, she jumped down silently, drawing her sword. As the gang turned towards the building, they spotted her medium figure on the opposite sidewalk.

"Who are you?" asked the tallest. She smirked, not answering. "I said who are you?" repeated the thug, the others crowding around her, not seeing her weapon who was hidden in the folds of her cloak. She didn't move, or breathe, or speak. She watched their slightest moves, and saw Edd creeping from behind. Apparently only the tallest had guns, and the smallest had a bunch of stuff in a bag.

Just as one of the thugs reached their hand towards her hood, she jumped, slashing her sword.

"Get him!" yelled a thug, gripping a gash who was bleeding across his face.

The she-devil laughed under her breath, landing behind them, and dashed forward.

The following minutes was a frenzy of arms and legs moving, trying to grip or avoid each other. The girl was ten times stronger than the others, and had destroyed the bag and made the gun useless. But now she was cornered, slightly out of breath, against a building. The gang smirked, and walked towards her, slightly wary.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you…" she said, loud enough for them to hear. A slightly chubby man asked why, making the mistake for his friends. She leaped over them, and landed squarely on the shoulders of roaring, foaming dragon.

* * *

><p>Five minutes later, sirens were wailing, and two dark figures flew away into the dark. The young girl was laughing, and the beast was slightly mad at this.<p>

"What is so funny?" he asked, out of patience. She stifled her laughter, and answered.

"Well, it was long time since I had such a good fight." He was slightly revolted by this, but hey, this was a Kanker.

"But you must remain careful, anything can happen. Fate isn't carved into stone, you must know." stopping her laughter, they continued patrolling.

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later, they flew silently, having saved two more people in distress.<p>

"Hey" Marie said randomly.

"What?"

"You were here a while, right?"

"Yes."

"But then, why aren't you in the news?"

"I honestly don't know. They must either think the witnesses crazy, or I am just top secret" she nodded.

"But imagine if we get caught on a live news camera, then we might become popular. So, a lot of cliché things might happen"

"Such as…" he couldn't know what she was thinking, having severed the link between their two minds, according her privacy.

"Well, we will be heroes, but as we are incognito, we will have nicknames!" he understood. She wasn't willing to get some dull name.

"Well, you called me Darkfire…"

"Yeah, and that name suits you! But what will become of me?" he thought. She was probably going to be more popular, for having been able to ride such a beast and to have been able to maintain such a control over it.

"But the most important must be that I should be seen as a guy…" she said.

"Really, why so?"

"Because, if I'm a girl, then the thugs will think that they have an advantage over me, encouraging them, and plus, they get cooler names" she finished with a grin. He couldn't see it, but he knew it was there.

"So that is why you muffled your voice…"

"Yep."

"What about…" he thought a moment.

"Redblade?"

"Nah…" they thought.

"Fire's Shadow?" he proposed.

"Does that reference to you?" she asked.

"Well, I didn't think of it that way, but maybe it does…" they thought more.

"Why are we thinking about names?" she asked. "I mean, is that the most serious thing we can think about?" he laughed.

"I guess. But you are the one who doesn't want a bad nickname!"

"True…

"So?"

"Let's see what people find." She finally decided.

"Very well"

And so ended their first random discussion.

* * *

><p>Edd flopped on his bed, human and tired. The whole night they saved people, the criminals have really seemed to come back. But something was fishy, when he first came to the city, there weren't nearly as much crimes as now. What could trigger that? His train of thoughts didn't finish as he sighed himself into sleep.<p>

"Double D! Wake up!" Eddy was at his friend's front door, banging on it with a shovel he found somewhere.

"Eddy, why are you always compelled to the breaking of my door to announce your arrival?" Edd asked sleepily, opening the door.

"Whatever. Come on, we have to practice for the tryouts!" Edd froze, he has completely forgotten about them! They were Monday morning, apparently.

"I don't need practice, Eddy…" he sighed. Eddy laughed.

"Of **all **the suckers in the cul-de-sac, **you** are **the **one who needs the **most** practice!" He yelled, emphasizing a few chose words. The smart boy sighed.

"Very well. Meet me in the forest clearing in five hours" he mumbled, closing the door.

"FIVE HOURS?" Eddy almost made his friend deaf.

"Curse my acute hearing…" he mumbled.

"Are you mad? In five hours, I would be bored!" he yelled selfishly.

"Do you know where it is? Good, see you soon…" Edd didn't let him finish and he closed the door brutally.

He wanted to sleep, but he also needed to discuss. He had no time for tryout practice. He reached out his mind, hoping it would go that far. He felt the three sisters, now which one was Marie? Their minds were surprisingly alike.

'Marie?'

In the trailer, Marie heard Edd.

"Who was that?" asked Lee, jumping to her feet.

"I don't know!" responded the youngest sibling. Marie gulped.

"I didn't hear anything!" she blurted out.

'Double D, be careful, my sisters heard you!' she thought.

'Sorry, Marie it would be handy for you to know how to do this. That is why I, uh, called.'

"What do you mean, you didn't hear anything? The sound sounded like your name!" yelled Lee.

"Ugh, leave me alone!" yelled Marie. She left to her room.

'Ok, what do you want?' she asked.

'In two hours I will be in the clearing with Ed and Eddy. Bring your sisters fifteen minutes later. Then we will have a half hour to talk about the riddle or other things.' He thought.

'Ok, grooves.' She smiled.

Edd sighed. He can sleep for two hours, and then he could go get his friends. He hated to trap them like this, but he needed a valid excuse to be with Marie. If it was the world at stake, than he shouldn't hesitate.

* * *

><p>Eddy was boring himself to death in his room. He had a record playing and was sitting on his water bed. His room was in the 80s style, lava lamps, disco balls and such. He was re-reading one of his ancient, almost-old-enough-to-turn-into-dust-on-the-spot, no-longer-published comics when he heard his doorbell. Remembering that his parents weren't home, he grumbled choice words to himself and answered the door.<p>

"Hello, Eddy! Care to come with me to practice for the try-outs? Ed is already waiting there" it was Edd. Eddy jumped him to the ground.

"Of course, what are we waiting for, come on!" Eddy then ran off in his typical lean-in-a-horizontal-style way. Edd followed.

Marie stood up; the two hour alarm went off. She knew she wasn't going to have the fun she usually was, but at least she was going to have fun.

"Come on, you old sleeping bags! It's time to see our Eds!" she called noisily and carelessly down the stairs. An hour and a half ago she told them that she overheard them talking about meeting at the clearing while she was in the library. At least now she had a good excuse to be there other than study.

"Get up, May, or you'll stick to the ground with that big bum of yours!"

"Shut up, Lee! At least I can see who I'm kissing, because you made an obvious mistake!" replied May.

Afterwards the two sisters proceeded to the thorough pummeling of each other's faces.

"Agh, shut up you two, the Eds won't stay there forever!" yelled Marie. No result.

"I'll claw your eyes out!" screamed Lee.

"I would do the same if you had any!" replied the younger sibling.

Bang!

"Remember what Mom said, nobody wins in a head-butt." Grinned Marie, wiping her hands. Lee and May sat on the ground, heads spinning.

"Come on!" she said before leaving the trailer, her sisters following directly behind, lipstick in hands.

"Come on, Sock head! Get the ball!" screamed Eddy. He and Edd were playing together against Ed, which seemed quite equal. Ed had the ball and was heading straight for the line. Edd was running behind him, preparing to seize the object.

He could have done it quickly and easily, but he had to remain clumsy and weak in his friend's eyes.

Jumping forward, lunging for his friend's arms, Ed laughed foolishly and whipped the ball away. The smarter boy smiled, amused by his friend's ignorance.

Eddy yelled, distracting the taller Ed, and Edd seized the ball, and turned around, going for a touchdown.

"Go, Sock head, go!" yelled the small Ed. Edd sprinted a little faster, and jumped, putting the ball past the white line.

But he collided with a pair of red sneakers.

"Hello, boys!" the air froze; panic seeping into every one of the boy's veins.

"Kankers!" yelled Eddy, taking a run for the hills. Lee laughed and jumped the boy, grabbing his three hairs. May jumped for Ed, and Edd was running for life.

Or so it seemed.

He dodged trees, fresh air and sharp twigs flying past his skin. Tripping slightly, scaring off birds, he ran through the woods.

"Double D, we're far enough! Stop running!" yelled a recognizable voice. The boy stopped on the spot, looking around. Marie fell from the branches in front of him.

"You really need to teach me how to do that" he commented. She smiled, seeing the image of her falling out the tree in his mind. His mind was straying.

"Nah, I think you should figure it out" she replied smugly. He huffed, and sat down, hearing his friend's pleas of mercy, and Ed's 'Girl Germs!' It pained him to do this, but he had to, he knew it.

The girl sat down beside him, not to close, taking out her long, red sword.

"Uh, why did you bring that?" asked Edd, wondering how he hadn't seen it before.

"Well, I didn't know what we would discuss exactly, so, just in case…" he sighed.

"Why don't I teach you how to read minds?" he proposed. She smirked.

"No, you are not going to do dumb stuff with that ability!" he said flatly.

"Why not? It looks fun!" he shuddered.

"Let's just say, some minds aren't pretty to see…" she huffed, but didn't refuse. A somewhat uncomfortable silence settled in.

"So…" he tried, pathetically.

"Well, are you gonna teach me or what?" he sat up, not knowing where to begin. How did he do it, exactly? It started with him in a great amount of stress, and then it came easily. Maybe it had to be unlocked.

But then again, he wasn't human. His mind was different now, so how should it work? Sighing, he looked at her.

"I don't know how to explain" she looked at him, her eyebrows flat, like unhappy Ed's.

"What?"

"Then why would you propose to teach it, numbskull?" silence followed, well yeah, again. He thought deeply.

The only way he was able to unlock it was in that semi-dangerous situation in science. Maybe they had to wait for it to happen for the girl as well.

He explained that to Marie what he thought, receiving a small groan.

"But I want to learn now!" she whined. But who could blame her? Being able to enter minds is quite a thing to want to be able to do. He sighed.

"Well, I don't see how to teach you, other than trying to explain…"

He described the feeling of reaching your mind out, how to achieve it, letting your thoughts disappear and hang on to any exterior presence.

But no matter how hard she could try in just ten minutes, she couldn't do it.

"Well, keep trying. I believe you will be able to do it a few days of practice and a little patience" he promised, receiving a slightly disappointed sigh.

They knew their time was up, and they went separate ways.

Edd went straight home, slightly nauseated knowing he betrayed his friends, also to be able to make and excuse for the fact that didn't have any kiss marks.

Marie followed her sisters, ranting about the usual, and fighting.

The day finished after a little more practice towards the evening. Edd found himself in the clearing again, waiting for the girl.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, this chapter had a lot of random parts in it... but let me say right now...this was a looong one.<br>But, from now on, things are probably going to slow down dramtically. Like one review per three days.  
>Well...see you soon?<strong>


	12. Tryouts and Games

Chapter 10

The Tryouts and the Games

That evening, Edd trained hard with the girl. They sparred, her using her sword, and him his claws. He balanced their abilities, so it was an equal fight.

No words were exchanges, just hits. a harder hit meant an error, a gap to correct. They went all out on eachother, not holding anything back. None got any wounds, none got hurt.

It was a beautiful fight, elegant and flowing, two surreal characters fighting to the death, yet none hurt the other.

Now, Edd was really stuck. Marie held her sword in his direction, makinghis approach impossible. Wherever he went, a sharp blade was in front of him.

Thinking quickly, he looked at the girl. She was in full focus, impossible to distract her. Her blade was still pointing towards him, she didn't move.

'Good...we are both stuck, unless she does something'

"Your mind is open, Double D!" yelled the girl, hearing his thought. Trying to correct this error, he was distracted enough to not see her disappear in the trees.

'Well, this is interesting. Then, I was stuck, now, I am free to go, am I?' Edd thought. She was nowhere in sight. He could leave if he wanted too.

Taking a step toward, nothing happened. He smelled nothing but the pines trees around him, anddidn't hear anything.

Then, from behind, he felt a sharp point dig between his scales.

"Dead!" he huffed. He has fallen right into the trap. Making one believe he's free, he lets his guard down. He Turned towards her, face down.

"Well, this is why we practise!" she said merrily. He growled a little. She laughed, knowing how rediculous he felt. A beast, a legendary dragon, defeated by a mere human!

"Well, the city won't wait, right?"

* * *

><p>The next evening happened likewise. The days were spent regularilly, pretending not be be wiser. Monday morning, however, was different.<p>

Edd didn't know how to react when they crossed. Plus, his friend's nervousness was creeping up his nose, litterally.

"Eddy, calm down! It is just a game!"

"Yeah, just a game...just a game..." Eddy was speaking gibberish, and Ed was indifferent. Edd sighed. Getting on the bus, he seated himself between his friends.

"But what if we do get qualified! Then we have to face those bulls!"

"If we get qualified, then it means we are worthy, Eddy! And if we do face those monsters, then we will face them as a team!" yelled Edd, exasperated.

"Like a team of chickens, Eddy!" said Ed.

Edd calmed down by just a notch.

"Well, it seems our men have the team spirit!" said a deep, gravel-like voice. Eddy's calm departed right afterward.

"K-k-k-kankers!" Ed and Eddy yelled. The three girl surrounded them, Lee in the alley, May behind, and Marie in front.

Edd didn't knonw how to react. The usual? He didn't know how anymore.

"Aww, look. My Double D loves me so much, he lost his voice!" slurred Marie, tickling his chin. Well, she knew how to act.

Edd started to shiver, this version of the girl always scared him.

Her eyes were exactly the same as when they hardly knew eachother. It seemed as is nothing has changed at all. She looked as she always did, chewed the same gum, wore the same clothes.

Was he really sparring with this girl just hours ago?

"You! Get in your seats, you ladies!" yelled the driver. The girls huffed, and seated themselves further up. The three boys were shivering.

"Those rotten Kankers! If they show themselves again-"

"You wouldn't do anything but shiver, Eddy..." finished Edd. Eddy gave up, knowing he was right.

* * *

><p>Gym came way too fast for the three boys. Even though just because they put their names on the list let them spend the whole morning just doing gym, it was stressing.<p>

The trio looked anxiously as a bunch of much larger boys steped in the changing rooms with them.

"Double D! What were you thinking when you sighned up! You don't stand a chance, nor do we!" Edd looked at him.

"I will be qualified because I'm fast. You will because you can always grab the ball, no matter what. Ed will because he is really strong"

"What do you mean, I can always grab the ball!"

"Those hulks keep the ball tucked in their arms, but if you use the correct strategy, then you will always succeed in grabbing it"

"What are you talking about?"

"Just imagine that ball is a bundle of money, or in Ed's case, a chicken"

"And since when are you fast?"

"Well...a while" Edd wasn't able to talk any more. Going to his corner to change discreetly, he later joined his friends in the gym.

* * *

><p>"Ok, listen up, you slugs! Today is the football tryouts, and only the fastest, the strongest, and the biggest will be allowed to enter!" Edd huffed, feeli glike the last part was specially said for him and his friends.<p>

"Your coach will be Kevin, who will also help select the players today! Now I will put you in two teams, and I want you to go all out on eachother!" The massive gym teacher then handed each a different color band, with they slung around their shoulders.

Edd found himself in the same team as his friends, but they were trembling like chickens.

"Eddy! When I will tell you, tell Ed that the ball is a chicken, and that he has to bring it saftly to that other side, behind the line. When you deem necessairy, imagine a huge amount of mone in the guy's arms" Eddy nodded dumbly, still shaking.

"Remember, these guys are all muscle and no brain. If we outsmart them, then we will win!" finished Edd, right before the whistle blew.

Edd saw the ball head for the other side. Feeling a rush of energy flow through him, he ran after his teammate, hoping to be able to get the ball from a pass.

As he sprinted across the middle of the field, his teammate was turned over by an opponent, and the ball changed course.

"Ed! That guy has a chicken! Bring it to safety to the other side!" yelled Eddy. Edd facepalmed. Not like that...

All the other guys started laughing at them. Ed, however, was not understanding, looking at the ball the the crook of the guy's arm and back at Eddy.

"Tsk, tsk. Eddy, you know that a football is not a chicken" he said, waving his finger in the smaller boy's face.

Meanwhile, the game has pursued, and the ball was getting close to the finish line...

And Edd wasn't close enough. Eddy was still there, looking with fear in his eyes as Ed waved a finger in front of them.

Edd decided to conduct an experiment. Reaching out his mind towards Eddy's he put the picture of the guy holding the ball in first though, but the ball was money.

Eddy froze. Looking at the guy, he didn't see a ball anymore, but money.

A whole load of money.

"Yahoo!" Eddy grabbed the ball from under the guy's feet, his small size barely making him noticeable. As the other team, thinking they still had the ball, continued on, the ed's tema was silently cheering the small Ed towards the other side.

Eddy was so happy. He was holding a bunch of cash, and was running towards his mansion before these freaks caught him.

He saw Edd to his left, making strange movements. Pointing and shouting, but he didn't hear anything.

Looking behind him, Eddy saw a massive bull running after him, wanting his cash!

"No, you don't, you..." Eddy dodged, but faced another bull. Looking around, he saw Edd, waving his arms. Eddy thought that he could trust his cash, and tossed it flawlessly towards his friend.

Edd was relieved as he caught the ball seemlessly. Making Eddy halucinate and making him trust him and Ed was the best combo ever. Though he did panic when Eddy was cornered, the small boy was very able to escape the hulk's grasp.

The smarter boy then sprinted towards the other side of the field, seeing his route blocked by another hulk. He really didn't know their names, but he could call them by their numbers they had on their shirts.

So hulks five, seven and eight were chasing him, one was in front of him, three and nine were covering Eddy.

Seeing no other way, he ran faster towards hulk number one, and slid between the ankles, dodging the large arms.

Getting up from the slide quickly, he saw the bulls three, ten, four and nine were now in front of him. One was now covering Eddy, who was yelling loudly.

But Ed was still there.

As the smart boy called out his name, he tossed the ball in Ed's direction. Seeing an object fly, Ed dodged it, and it landed right next to him.

What a pretty thing, Ed thought. Such a small, pretty, harmless little ball. It was pretty and brown, he really liked it.

When a huge stomping noise cam from his left, he saw a huge guy with a twelve on his shirt go for the pretty ball. His hands were big and dirty, Ed thought, and he didn't want the pretty ball to get dirty.

Grabbing the ball before number twelve guy here, he looked down at the pretty ball.

But there was no pretty ball any more, there was a chicken.

"CHICKEN!" Ed is so happy, he has a chicken! A pretty, brown, chicken!

But twelve wanted his chicken. Ed saw Edd pointing towards the other side of the huge field, and saw a huge pool of gravy.

Chicken+gravy= happy Ed.

As Ed made this complicated math calculation, twelve grabbed his chicken.

But Ed wanted the chicken. He wanted to take the chicken with his in the pool of gravy, and have fun with the chicken, like go on merry-go-rounds and go in theme parks.

And wanted that now.

Edd saw Ed fume on the other side of the field as he grabbed the bull number twelve and tore the ball from his hands. As the clumsy guy started going in his two other friend's direction, Edd abandonned the halucination in Ed's eyes. Edd saw it was now a ball, but now held an adoration for it.

A teammate, who saw this happen, was thinking under his brutish skull. Those kids were good. They were fast, and one of them was really strong.

Although he didn't look like a smart guy, when it came to sport and their stratagies, he knew it all. So the small dude with three hairs was totally wanting to keep the ball, the tall guy with the hat was just really fast, and the tall, stupid guy said it was a chicken.

So that's how they rolled.

He started running towards the touchdown.

"Hey! I'll protect the ball!" he yelled towards the tall guy. He looked at him, still running, then made a pass. He caught it, and ran for the touchdown.

Darn, Mike and David were in his way. They were bigger then him, but he was so close.

Seeing the guy with the hat waving his arms, he made a pass, and the little thing sprinted really fast, and touchdowned.

Well, those guys have the wierdest stratagies.

A whistle blew. Edd, who was now holding the ball preciously, the ball who was his first touchdown, turned towards the teacher.

"Ok, you maggots! We have seen the whole lot of you guys, and we only want the best. I want number one, you cover well!"the designated bull retreated behind the teacher. Edd realised that he was number thirteen, Ed was fifteen, and Edd was zero.

"Zero, you are the perfect dodger! I want you, for the extreme situations! Seventeen, You observe and adapt well!" the guy who passed towards Edd right before the toughdown joined Eddy behind the teacher.

"I want seven and nine as well, not to forget thirteen, the fastest guy I have ever seen!" Edd was happy. He was on the team, with his friends, after having put on a good show. Kevin was scowling in their direction, but he didn't care. He joined his friends, high-fived, and celebrated like idiots.

The only thing that ascaped his vision was a dark, looming shadow.

* * *

><p>Edd greeted Marie in the clearing.<p>

"Hey, Double D. Heard that you and your pals made it into the team!" she said. He nodded.

"Congrats! If they let girls on the team I bet I would have benn allowed, too"

After chatting a bit, the two then started sparring again.

"Double D..." she breathed between strikes. He grunted, saying that he was listenening.

"I have been thinking...about the riddle...that you should solve..." he nodded, blocked a strike with the tumb on his wing,trying to get a strike in with his right paw. Blocking the strike, she continued.

"Maybe we should...try to solve it...what do...you think?" he nodded. Both stopping at the same moment, they sat down after a small breather.

"So how did it go?" she asked about the riddle. He scratched his head.

"You, young man of a cul-de-sac, in a precious place where nothing may lack. A danger all-powerful is getting near, all those you know will tremble in fear. The world will end, nothing less, and it will all start with your painful deaths. We know that you are willing to stop this fiend, although you will regret to have intervened. This power so strong is getting stronger, but if he finds the Echnia, all will be over. We give you our strength, our abilities and our wisdom, and our trio will become a powerful foursome. Find the treasure before it is too late, hurry up: your precious time isn't that great. Search the clue in the bottom of a bag, if you knew said place, you might gag. Moist and damp, very dirty, go to the bottom, the place most filthy. You have to stay secret, the truth may not be told, if the words reach his ears, your world will fold. Seek an ally, only one. Seek a most precious one. We wish you good luck; do not give up faith, do not fear your own deadly wraith. Go save you world young hero, great or minor, you anctions will never count as zero. there"

"Wow, you actually remember all of it"

"Well, it's sort of burned into my memory"

"So...the first phrase...'you, young man of the cul-de-sac, in a precious place were nothing may lack', that means that you are a youn man, early teens, in a good home. Nothing may lack, means that obviously, you don't have to leave this place to be trully happy"Edd nodded. He never really got to think about the riddle before, so now he was actually making progress.

"Then there is 'a danger all-powerful is getting near, all those you know will tremble in fear...' that means you have a hell of an an enemy. We should practise more, maybe. Then 'the world will end, nothing less, and it will all start with your painful deaths...' well, that is reassuring" he laughed at her dry humor.

"' We know that you are willing to stop this fiend, although you will regret to have intervened' so we must wait for help, I don't know... 'This power so strong is getting stronger, but if he finds the Echnia, all will be over' so it's some Echnia thingymajig. Then we must find that first. Goal one: Echnia thing. 'We give you our strength, our abilities and our wisdom, and our trio will become a powerful foursome'so that is what 'they'did, they gave you their abilities. But who...well 'Find the treasure before it is too late, hurry up: your precious time isn't that great' we have little time, that wasn't too hard, either. These guys suck at riddles. 'Search the clue in the bottom of a bag, if you knew said place, you might gag' well, that is hard. A bottom of a disgusting bag? But we know it, apparently, or you do, in any case. But, the said Echnie thingy is in the bottom of that bag, or at least some answers...'Moist and damp, very dirty, go to the bottom, the place most filthy', so a fitting disciption of that bag... 'You have to stay secret, the truth may not be told, if the words reach his ears, your world will fold' so you cannot tell your secret. Well, you didn't tell me, I found out myself! So we're cool. 'Seek an ally, only one. Seek a most precious one', well, I am that precious ally, I guess. 'We wish you good luck; do not give up faith, do not fear your own deadly wraith' a wraith is a ghost, isn't it? So, we must be ready for the worst, I guess. 'Go save you world young hero, great or minor, you anctions will never count as zero' that means you have to do a lot of good things, I think! Well, we went through it all, and we are not much further ahead. Only that we must find some Echnia, before this evil freak does" Edd nodded, still chuckling from her constant dry humor. You couldn't get bored around her, it almost looked like a rule.

"Well, ready for our city saving?" she asked, getting up. He nodded, and moments later, they flew off, as a shadow watched them leave.

* * *

><p><strong>Yaaay! Ten chapters in less then ten days, I think!<br>Well, as you can probably tell, I have no clue about how you play football. That suck for me. And as by football, I mean rugby, for some.  
>But this chapter was ok, I liked it.<br>Well, there they were, those tryouts. And what is this enemy?****  
>I am having fun...<strong>


	13. More Thoughts

Chapter 11

More Thoughts

These binds won't hold me much longer, I know it. The trap I set up for the boy is foolproof, and even if he finds it out, he will fail.

What most masters of evil never do, is make a good, reliable plan B. I have a plan B. A foolproof plan B.

I groaned, this lack of space won't last much longer, that is my only consolation. Grunting furiously, I think how this happened.

That trio...they put me here.

I have worked so much to get to my present level of power. Years of planning, hard work, defeats and victories.

After father said that it wouldn't be me, the leader, the one with the power of life behind the back, I saught the only thing able to compete with that power.

The power of death.

I chuckle. How me and my dad would talk about things I must never do as we sat by his throne, gaining the power of death was one of our subjects.

I smile as I remember his face as he saw me, his _dear son_. He was so unhappy, I spared him the sadness by finishing him off. But brother had to beat me there and then.

Then my quest really started. I beat the most powerful mages, saught the most dangerous spells. And finally, I turned into the god I dreamed to be.

Even though I lost my shiny gold color to my slick black, everybody knew about me. The whole kingdom.

I destroyed it.

I destroyed our entire world, the whole thing, every person going with it.

But no, brother had to have help. He was life, and he had wisdom and power at his sides. They revived the world. But what did the otherwise powerful winged beasts become?

Pathetic apes who walked on two feet.

With the worst technology I have ever seen, at that. I was enraged, that our people would be mocked as such.

Although I destroyed it, I didn't want such proud beasts to become such weak things. They don't even remember me, though, nor brother or his friends.

I went on a rampage. I wanted brother's death, so that I could kill off our race in peace. Rather die then live in such a pitiful state.

I stripped them of their powers, making them mine. The power, it tasted so good. I could really do anything! With life and death at my hands, I could destroy and create anything in a blink of an eye.

And I wanted to destroy my brother right there and then, but he was wise.

Or was it his girlfriend, wisdom, who planned it? Anyway, I was emprisoned, for decades, who turned into centuries.

Meanwhile, humans, those things discovered the bones of their dead selves. The magic protected them, though, and our dead bodies were then called 'dinosaures'. I loathed my brother. Why not tell them the truth? Then he asked me, why did I destroy them, our world? Because, they knew me. If I wanted to kill him, then they would all stop me. They needed to go.

But now, they don't remember me, and that makes things easier.

I was planning my escape a little more then a month ago. The seal holding me was almost broken. But they made a plan. I was only lucky I overheard.

I broke the seal early, but I didn't show myself. My brother trusted his own magic too much.

First, the boy, I thought. His stripes, normally light blue, would become my slick black. I was now able to block whatever massages those three would send him. Plus, it came with a great, terrible bonus.

Then, the message.

The three wanted him to know the exact location of the Echnia, the key to limetless power.

I saught that wretched thing, too. I thought as well, that by destroying the world, it would appear, but no.

It was the final thing I needed. The Echnia was the true granter of wishes. It would grant any wish in the best way possible for the wisher. If one asked for an omlette, then it would be given with a grand table with golden silverware.

It granted anything. From a come back to the death, to impossible love, to world conquer. It could also grant one power greater than it's own.

I needed it.

And they were going to trust such a precious thing to a mere human, a boy, as well!

I knew that my escape would be difficult, even if the three didn't have their powers anymore. So, the message was altered, bringing the boy towards the real message, but upon listeneing to it, it would free me, body and soul.

My escape being ready, I attacked, killing the whole lot of them. But, with his last breath, brother sealed me up again. The last one alive, what was his name, Firebreath, was it? Yes Firebreath, he cursed me, promised me eternal pain for having killed her and his friend.

Well, now I was waiting, but also listening and watching.

My plan was going well.

The three only discovered my plan A a few days ago, and the fools were thinking that everything was going fine for them.

No, it was great for me.

I saw the boy during those 'tryouts' for one of those rediculous sports those things invented.

He was wise, and getting stronger. Just what I needed. The stronger he gets, the better it is.

He was even able to save everyone from the train wreckage my shadow caused.

My shadow was my other half of my spirit. I sacraficed half of my magic to create it. But it wasn't only my shadow.

My shadow was the boy's shadow, as well. Following his slightest steps. When it left, the boy was left with no shadow whatsoever. It was risky, but nobody realised yet.

But one thing worried me. That girl, there. She was a great swordsman, even though she didn't practise any technique in particular.

She was smart, too. Much smarter then she let on.

But the worst, she would do anything to protect the boy, anything at all.

She would pose a problem further in this story if wits and power.

But there was also something else. Something graver that she didn't know, either. A great thing.

Seeing the two fly off, I thought, why not have a little fun?

My shadow then followed, as a shadow should.

* * *

><p><strong>Oooh, I really like this chapter, though it is really short.<br>And if you're thinking I'm saying too much, then you are really, really wrong. So much more is going to happen..  
>I'm guessing this story will have about fifty chapters, no more, about seventy.<br>Well, so long!**


	14. A Whole New Scale of Popularity

Chapter 12

A Whole New Scale of Popularity

Edd flew towards the city with Marie on his back. They had just discussed about the riddle, and knew that the Echnia, their goal, was in some dirty bag.

Edd sighed happily, smelling the fresh air. He actually had real help, now. Although the riddle wasn't that complicated, he knew that there was some trap inside. And she didn't lie about being good with riddles, they just finished a game of riddling, to wich she won.

"I have another one!" she said. He nodded, a sign to continue.

"A man is found, hanging four feet from the floor in a completly empty room besides a puddle of water under him. How did her hang himself?" Edd knew it right away.

"He climbed on an iceblock. That one wasn't hard! My turn..." well, they are just starting a new round, as well.

"Weight in my belly, trees on my back, nails in my ribs, feet I do lack. What am I?" she thought a long moment.

"A boat!" he nodded.

"What can be a thousand different colors, can eat a thousand sheep, but always be hungry?" she asked. He knew this one.

"You want me to answer a dragon, but it is a wollen rug" she huffed.

"What part of the bird, who is not in the sky, can swim in the ocean, and always stay dry?" he asked.

After a long thinking, she answered.

"I'm saying it's shadow" he nodded once more.

They finally reached the city, and they dealt with a few small scale crimes.

* * *

><p>It was about two in the morning, when Edd thought something smelled funny.<p>

"Something is amiss" said the beast. She nodded, she smelled it, too. When sirens were heard, they figured they would find out by following them.

They only had to turn around to see the disaster.

An enormous apartment building was in flames.

"Darkfire! We got to check it out, before we know it, somebody needs help!" Edd, knowing she was calling him that because they were in the city, sprinted towards the scene, tearing through the wind.

It was a true catastrophe.

Firemen were everywere, the neighbors and the people who lived in the burning building were looking at their futile attempts to kill the flames. Ambulances were taking away ill people, and the apartment itself was a huge torch, not one of the corners wasn't in flames.

Edd was really hoping some cliché thing wasn't going to happen. The last thing he wanted was to save some baby in the flames.

"Darkfire, look!" Marie pointed towards a window, were a figure lay, unconcious, against the window. In the window right next to it, they could see another passed out figure.

"How many are there in this wreck?" asked Marie. Edd spread his mind, and including the two they saw, there were three.

"There is one more at the other side of the building!" he told her mentally.

"We have to save them!" Edd didn't see how he would fit in there, he was just too large! Unless...

"I'm going in there!" she yelled.

'Marie, no!'

'We can't watch them die, now can we?' Edd realised that she was right.

The beast flew closer to the flames, the heat scorching his skin. A few gasps were heard from under him as he appeared from the dark, but he didn't care.

'Are you sure?' he asked.

'I guess...' was all she thought to him before she jumped through the window.

Edd landed in the crowd, closing his eyes. He lent quite some strength to the girl, and he felt her pick one man up without effort.

She was getting burned, he thought. Though her cloak was partly fireproof, the heat was astounding.

She barged through a door, getting to the second figure.

Edd was in torment, there was nothing he could possibly do to help. If he went in there, he would make the whole thing collapse. There was no way he could blow the fire out, or anything like that.

All he could do was watch.

The people around him were gawking at the beast, as it stood there, eyes closed, head tilted upwards, in front of the fire.

The flames brought out the scarlet in his scales, and the yellow on his forehead and belly scales made him look like he was dancing around the flames.

But the most surprising thing was that everybody saw that somebody jumped off his back, through the window? Who in the right mind trained this thing?

Edd himself, felt that she was opening doors to find the last person. The two people on her shoulders didn't weigh much, but it was hindering in her movements.

Edd felt uncomfortable, all of a sudden.

As did the crowd, as they all saw that the beast didn't posses a shadow.

Marie was cursing more and more loudly at every empty room she crossed. She was happy that nobody else was stuck in this rampage, but it was taking too long! Finally opening a door who offered her the sight of the last victim, she sighed happily, picked him up, and started retracing her steps.

That was when she felt how hot it was. It was really, really hot. Now these people were getting heavy, too. To heavy, way to heavy. Marie then realised with a shock that the help Edd was offering her was fading away.

'Edd! Help! Edd!' she screamed mentally, before collapsing from the weight. Now this heat was reaching her mind, the smoke was scorching her throat, making her feel light-headed.

'Help...' was her last though before she fell into a dark, deep void.

Edd's eyes shot open, feeling her presence's strength deminish to one equall to the other ones. Yet, he recieved no message from her.

Something was wrong, really wrong.

Withough wasting a second, he flew up, a broke through the window.

The heat was immense, warm air picking his parting wings, flames licking his long, thick figure.

Edd felt the walls around him crack as he forced himself past. This was too dangerous!

He looked between the flames, searching for a collapsed heap.

There it was.

Racing towards it was Edd's greatest error. The roof collapsed, and he dealt with a blow to the back. refusing to fall unconcious, he treaded foward slowly, carefully.

Grabbing the group, he held them close as he used his three other feet to retreat.

Taking advantage of the already parted walls to back up slowly, turning around not possible, he sped up, going faster.

His heel met the edge of the building, his tail was waving in thin air.

Taking one shallow breath, he leaped backwards.

Turning, tumbling, red was covering his eyelids. Warm flames tickled his back as he fell alongside the flames who were devouring the building.

The crowd held it's breath as the dropping beast didn't move.

Edd flicked his eyes open, and spread his wings.

And landed safely on the ground.

The onlookers broke in a wild cheer as the dragon did the most impressive barrel-roll and landed on his side, but safely nevertheless.

Marie opened her eyes as fresh air entered her lungs. Looking up, she saw a cheering crowd, and a great beast's head. Slowly sitting up, still slightly dizzy, she patted his head.

"Good boy, Darkfire... good job" she praised.

The docters brought the last men to the ambulances, and Marie and Edd slowly regained their wits. Nobody approached them, but cheered them still.

Edd got up, stabelising himself on his four feet, and felt the girl help herself up. Then, minutes later, the duo flew away into the night, the crowd still cheering.

* * *

><p>Edd got up from his bed clumsilly as his alarm went off. Was that all a dream? It was all so fuzzy, and he couldn't remember much...<p>

When he took his shower, he got the answer. His whole body was slightly scorched, and the contact of water stung.

Getting dressed, he almost cursed when he regretted not having bought larger clothes earlier. The rubbing of the fabric hurt a little.

He went downstairs, and took his breakfast, not forgetting the newspaper. He liked to read the news, it kept him aware of the daily happenings around the world.

He nearly spit out his milk.

There was his photo, on the cover of the newspaper. It was him lying on the floor. Opening to the page, he met a whole new page of his pictures. One with him standing there, waiting for Marie, another of him flying off, a few impressive snapshots of his landing, and his departure.

A few pictures of Marie as well, mostly lying there or helping herself up, but nobody knew who it was. They only saw a dark, cloaked character.

Edd read the article.

_10th october, 2011, Apple City, 2:17am_ (**yes, the city name is made up**)  
><em>We were all amazed with an impressive display of the impossible, this morning, at two am. During a fire of the Doppledeck appartment building, a construction who cost a few hundred million dollars, we all witnessed the strangest savior.<br>The most impossible beast was seen, and most witnesses affirm that it is a most impossible dragon.  
>"It was about two stories high, red, black and yellow. It was the most incredible thing I have ever seen!" says witness, Ms. Bretha.<br>First seen approaching the building, it was said that it deposited another human inside the flat. A few minutes later, the beast followed, then landing spectacularly on the ground, holding four victims.  
>"I don't think that one of them was a victim, rather a savior. He was cloaked in black, and called the beast 'Darkfire', praising it, probably for having saved them" as this other witness, Mr. Buckbabler, others claim that the dragon has his rider.<br>Is it possible to tame such a beast? _

Although the article continued on, Edd stopped reading. So he was finally published, but Marie was as well.

It didn't pose too much problems, only that now he was known. The only thing that could possible go wrong was that he was discovered, but as a human.

Finishing breakfast, although abandonning the paper, he brushed him teeth and went to school.

* * *

><p>Edd waited at the library, catching the early bus. He crossed nobody yet, but he knew that he would be the main discussion that day.<p>

Marie then entered in a rush, panting.

"Hey...I knew I would find you here..." he said between pants. He gave her a questionning gaze.

"I...read the paper..."

"As have I" she stood up straight, swallowing.

"So, what do you think?" he gave another look.

"You didn't read the whole thing, didn't you? They say you don't have a shadow!" she almost yelled. She would have if she still had breath.

"What do you mean?" he asked, slightly worried.

"Well..." she flipped open her own newspaper wich she brought with her. Looking through the long article, she finally found the passage.

"Hum... '_Another witness, Ms. DarlyHarrison, said another thing about the beast.  
>"At first I was wildly impressed, dragons were one of my favorite things when I was young. But as it stood there, I saw it had no shadow whatsoever".<br>This gives us the occaision to ask ourselves, 'is it real, or an illusion?'. Although it was said that it broke walls as it entered the building, what doesn't have a shadow?'" _Marie stopped reading there. Edd was appalled. He has never noted a missing shadow. But then again, he didn't pay much attention to it.

The girl poked him, then again, harder. Edd huffed.

"I am real" she sighed.

"But what doesn't have a shadow?"

"Well, I don't know, but I don't think we should pay too much attention to it. It doesn't seem that important" she nodded.

"And, what about the people?"

" Well, we will be the main event for a few days, and of course every time we do some great stunt. My main worry is what people think about as we are now. If people get suspicious, with some digging, anybody could connect the pieces" she nodded again, not trully listening.

Something was wrong. This thing inside her told her so. Nothing does not posses a shadow, it is a law. When something blocks the way of light, wherever the light isn't is darker, a shadow, then. But how could Edd not posses one? He was blocking light from a fire, and it was as if the light went right through him!

Her train of thoughts was rudely interrupted by the bell.

Edd left the room the go to his class, the girl following a little farther behind.

"Double D! Double D!" Edd turned around to face Eddy.

"The dragon! The-"

"Yes, I know, Eddy. I read the paper, too" Edd interrupted. He felt very uncomfortable talking about himself with his friends.

"It saved my uncle! My uncle lived in that building, and he always has fifty locks of his door, and the thing saved him!" Edd was surprised. Eddy had an uncle in the city?

"Well, if what the paper said is correct, then it is the dragon rider who saved him. It seemed the beast then saved the whole group when it got stuck" commented Edd.

"You mean the Flame Dancer? Dang, I wish I were him. Riding that beast, that sounds so cool..." Edd startled a bit.

"Flame Dancer?"

"Yeah. Darkfire and the Flame Dancer. That's the duo's names. Well, what we call'em. Darkfire because the guy called him that, and Flame dancer, well, taming a dragon, that is playing with fire, I guess!" Eddy was probably the number one fan of them already.

"I don't see how anyone could tame that thing! You know, when I was searching for you, a while back, I crossed the Kankers who caught the beast. Darn, it was reeeaaallly angry. It almost bit my hand off!" Edd gulped, remembering his state of mind at that moment.

"But still, it is a handsome dragon. No drawings can compare to it!"

"Probably because it is real, Eddy"

The duo entered class, and their discussion ended.

For the moment.

During the whole day, Edd heard rumors, stories, and other things, mostly concerning him. This was worst then when his photo was put up on the billboard, but then he hardly heard of it.

But now that he was world news, everybody was interested in him.

Edd was packing up his bag when he had that thought. World news? He froze.

Those in Peach Creek and Apple City wouldn't harm him, nor the cities around.

But the rest of the world? How would armies of men with guns take him?

What would become of him?

Edd saw it already, those tremendous amounts of men searching for him, taking him in, experimenting things on him. He shivered. Picking up his bag, mind slightly terrified, he went home, slowly walking towards the bus stop.

* * *

><p>The whole week passed with almost no abnormalities. Although he had to continue his saving acts with his female companion, it was getting tough.<p>

People were just wishing to see him, so every night, poeple would look out their windows, and most of them will see him, helping a cat out of a tree and stopping a wild car.

So cameras constantly followed, stopping him from doing his work, as well as Marie's.

She was constantly asked rediculous questions, from how old she was to Edd's own age, to how she fed him, or why she did this.

They never answered, not wanting to give themselves away with a slip of the toungue.

So rumors stated that they were mute, even though they heard her speak the night of the fire.

Edd lost his appetite for conversation, and felt himself growing thin. He has spoken to Marie about his fears of the world wanting him in the name of science, but she relaxed him with reassuring words, saying that she wouldn't let that happen.

She continued her fake attacks, giving them more time to talk, mostly hiding in a janitor's closet, in the woods, or anywere else Edd could find.

Edd was getting stronger from his sparring with the girl, and he knew that she was, too. But he needed to practise his mind. The girl often felt it and warned him, but he never got real practise.

Marie still didn't succeed in that practise, and she was growing jealous of Edd for that ability, but never too much.

Edd was almost sure that she had to have some pressure to succeed in such a practise. She kept trying, though.

Edd decided that he would go clothes shopping that saturday, his shirt and shorts, not to mention his stokings, were getting way too tight. He thought that he would just buy the same of everything but bigger, but when Marie knew what his plans were by a slip of his mind, she said that she would go with him to choose his clothes.

Edd refused, at first, saying that people will see them together, and think that they are a couple or something. Besides, he thought he could pick out his own clothes.

"But, Double D! You have been wearing the same thing for years now! It is time you wear something a little more different!" But Edd then said that he liked it as it was now. Marie nodded 'no'.

"You never know until you try" he then accepted, not entirely out of his own will.

* * *

><p>They were now walking in the city mall, looking for a good looking store.<p>

"So, Double D. Did you think of anything?" she asked. He shook his head.

"Well, I think you should wear red, black and yellow, they fit you. Mostly red. Yellow is more for Eddy, though, and black and green is more Ed-like..." she thought out loud. He agreed.

Seeing an ok looking store, they entered, hoping to find something that fit the boy. The moment they entered the store, they wanted to leave.

There were pictures of them everywere, and all of the clothing was based on them. The pictures were quite cool, though, and most drawings were pretty awesome. But they felt very uncomfortable.

Edd, making sure his mind was closed, headed towards a rack. Leaving right after entering would look suspicious, so they just decided to take a look.

All colors they had were red, black and yellow, and a little blue. He had no idea why blue, but he liked the fact that they chose the exact color to complete their entire palet.

"Double D, check these out!" said Marie, holding a bunch of clothes in her hands.

"I chose an extra size up so that they will last longer" after thanking her, he proceeded to the changing room.

The design on the shirt was quite simple. It was red, scarlet red, with black stripes running along the edges and seams, with a thinner yellow stripe going around the black ones.

The pants, too, were simple. Black, with a yellow strip going down the outer seam, all the way down the leg.

He tried them on, and they fit perfectly. The shirt was nice and loose, but not too much, the same for the pants.

Meanwhile, Marie was still rummaging through the clothes.

There were not a lot of things he could wear. Most had pictures of them on the front and back, and Edd didn't want that. The only thing that was actually ok were the things he was trying on now.

Looking up, looking at the racks on the the other side of the room while heading there, she saw a couple enter the store.

Nazz and Kevin.

Surviving a cardiac arrest, Marie quickly dived behind a rack, not wanting to be seen. It then hit her.

Edd would come out of the changing room, see her, call out her name and join her.

And Kevin, able to identify an ed's voice from a mile away, would spot them, and the result would be catastrophic.

She looked as the two awed at a picture, then started looking through the clothes. She kept saying that everything was 'so cute', and Kevin was just there, with an anxious wallet.

How could she warn Edd without the two noticing? Nazz and Kevin were now in between Edd and Marie, making the task of the girl warning the smart ed impossible.

'Darn it!' Marie then thought it would be a pure terror for Kevin to find them there, together. She was sure that with the mocking they would recieve, Edd would lose his cool and turn into his other half.

They did not want that.

She already saw the interviews, the blood tests, being treated as a lab rat, she saw Edd's world crumble. And her's...

Most likely something about the same.

'Double D... you better not get out of there now...' she thought, anxious and stressed. Her heart died when she saw his feet head for the curtain, and when the other couple took another step towards him.

'Double D!' another step. And another, and another.

'Eddward! If you step out of that curtain your world will crumble!' she thought, frantic. His steps halted, much to her relief, and saw as they turned back towards the mirror. Nazz and Kevin found something 'cute', and headed for the cashier. MArie took this opportunity and bolted in Edd's changing room.

"Edd, Nazz and Kevin are here, leave when I come get you!" she told him, her voice stern. Edd was baffeled, she just intruded in here just as he was about to take off the shirt. She ignored his expression.

"Got it?" he nodded, the she left.

* * *

><p>"Edd? You can come out, now!" he heard. Apparently Nazz took a long time because she needed an accessory to go with her new shirt.<p>

He came out, in his old clothes, smirling slightly.

"What's the grin for?" she demanded.

"Well, let's just say you just leveled up" he answered playfully. "I heard you order for me to stay in the room. I heard your every thought for the past five minutes. Apparently stress is the key" she simply smiled. But he knew that she was extremly happy, she just didn't want to cause a scene.

They purchases the clothes and headed home, trying to avoid their fans as much as possible.

* * *

><p><strong>Well...this chappie was ok.<br>It has its ups and downs, so it's ok.  
>Well, yeah...<strong>


	15. Not a chapter

**Ok, sorry, no new chapter...**

**I am now re-writing the whole thing, to the maximum, so it is going to take a while. **

**I wasn't happy with what i already wrote, so, well, now I'm doing something about it!**

**thanks for your patience!**


End file.
